19 Hours Ahead

Hi, all,

I'm in New Zealand, where the time is 19 hours ahead of Portland.

Why New Zealand? you may ask.  That's eloquently detailed by Asha Praver in this post.  But the long and the short is:  Asha arrives here this Wednesday to help launch Ananda New Zealand, with a 5.5 week lecture tour in 6 cities.  I'm part of the support team, along with other "American Tour Gang" members Bryan McSweeney, Rachel Ebgi, and Jill Barker.

Before this got arranged, I'd already signed up for an Ananda Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Nov. 7-16.  Divine timing:  that begins a few days after the New Zealand trip ends.  So, it's an around-the-world string of flights courtesy of the very last of our United frequent flier miles, before I come home 2 months hence.

Meanwhile, Manisha is keeping the home fires burning!  This is the longest time we'll have been apart in our 13-year marriage.  Emails and iPhones help a lot.  :-)  Today she gave a fabulous Sunday service talk—check it out!

First Impressions

Green.  Cloudy, cool, rain, then sunny & warm (just like Portland!)

These are the delightful folks hosting us:  Aroon & Kavita Parshotam, and their daughters Veda & Devya—here with Aroon's mom Olga visiting for lunch:

They have a beautiful home right on New Zealand's largest river, the Waikato.

It's kind of a fun story how all this came about:  Olga says that her mom gave her a copy of Autobiography of a Yogi, back when.  Olga later shared it with son Aroon.  He gave it to Kavita—who, since then, has been unstoppable.  3 years ago, she began teaching yoga, meditation, and doing counseling on her own... but felt there was still more to learn & give.  While searching online for teachings on Patanjali to share with her yoga class, she came across Asha's Patanjali class series videos—and was hooked.

Kavita's since been to Ananda Village, and has taken the Meditation Teacher Training there.  Then... well, here are Asha's own words:
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When I was in India last winter, I began to ask, “Where next?” Australia seemed an obvious choice. They speak English (my only language) and it was part of Swamiji’s vision. 

“Should Ananda come to Australia and New Zealand?” was the subject line for an e-mail I sent to some 400 people on our list living in those countries. 

Seconds after it was sent, I got a response. “Yes!” [from Kavita] coupled with an offer to arrange the tour—in New Zealand. 

Several dozen devotees, from both countries, expressed enthusiasm, but no one in Australia could take charge. I had thought to do it myself -- I’ve organized many tours -- but those days are past. Without the right person in Australia, it was impossible. 

“Go where there is energy,” which turns out to be New Zealand.
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So, here we are!

Other first impressions:

The Accent—Here's a fun story from last night, while visiting with 3 members of New Zealand's world-champion Waikato Rivertones Chorus, shown here at a concert they gave today:

Last month, a member who knows Kavita asked whether her quartet could sing some Ananda songs at Asha's first class of the tour this Friday, and requested sample music from me.  Last night, we listened to three of them give an informal preview at her home.  They sang wonderfully!

The three were discussing who could join them to make a quartet this weekend...

She:  We've got at least three Tinas available...
Me:  You have three ladies named Tina?

Hee hee.  I realized she'd been saying "tenors".
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The Driving

Steering wheels and driving lanes are completely mirror-image of what I'm used to.  It's impressive how visceral a habit that becomes!  Turning left—"lift" in Kiwi—you drive straight into what is "usually" the oncoming traffic lane—without looking left first!  Yikes.
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New Stars

OK, this is obscure, but ever since I heard Steven Stills' song "Southern Cross" and realized there were major constellations you could only see from the Southern Hemisphere, I was intrigued.  Last night I saw it:

Another star you only see down under is Canopus, the second-brightest star in the nighttime sky.  (Know what the brightest is?  Answer below.)
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"OK", you say, "what's this got to do with Living at Laurelwood, the name of your blog?"

Well, not much.  But the last post was over 9 months ago—mainly 'cause in January, Manisha and I were asked to manage the Ananda Portland Temple & Teaching Center.  That's been a real engaging, fun, all-consuming challenge, all these months!  Still at it... even though I'm on the other side of the planet at the moment.  Thank God for the great friends we work with, who really carry things on.  :-)

P.S. You'll read a lot more from Manisha on her blog, Llamas and Niyamas, as well as on her Facebook page.  There, I've only mentioned llamas once... well, now, twice.  But that's all.  Sirius!

Love,
Dambara

Pipe Down and Crack On

Ben and Tarka have just walked 900 miles to the South Pole.  Now, they walk back.

But let's back up a bit.  It all started when friends Koral and Suzanne Ilgun took a recent trip to Antarctica, sharing photos like this:

Later, Koral mentioned a blog he'd been following by 2 British adventurers who are walking 1800 miles in Antarctica, unsupported, from the coast to the South Pole and back.

I've been following their blog since.  As you might imagine, it's a lot of effort (not my following their blog; I mean them hiking the 1800 miles)—strenuous skiing against fierce cold and strong headwinds, each towing a very heavy supply sled, often in whiteout conditions, day after slogging day, for 2 months now, with 2 more to go.

What do they think about?  This was my favorite comment:

"I've read of explorers from Cherry-Garrard to Fiennes having mantras they'd repeat to themselves when the going got tough. I can't say I've got one myself, but my favourite recourse when my mind starts fretting about how tough this journey is proving is to tell myself to "Pipe down and crack on". It works a treat, especially in what I imagine to be a Yorkshire accent."

Pipe down and crack on.  In other words, don't give in to whining or negative thinking, which stalls the energy flow.  Just get on with it, move forward, and do what needs to be done.  A positive, cheerful attitude helps!

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Another friend mentioned recently how he enjoyed reading accounts from early pioneers.  He noticed that they didn't mention the weather that much.  He didn't think it was necessarily that they were heartier than we are—just more accepting of conditions they had no control over.  "When you think about it, it's kind of silly to complain about the weather, isn't it?"  Well, yes!

It made me realize how equally silly it is to complain about ANY conditions we face that we have no control over.  Just adjust, do what needs to be done, and remind the mind (good-humoredly) to pipe down and crack on.
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This actually does relate to Living at Laurelwood, in case you're wondering.  In our own, tiny, microcosmic way, Manisha and I have both been treading on together into new territory, for us:  seeing how we can help promote Ananda Oregon's various entities here, for example.  At first, I got caught up in a bit of anxiety, not being sure exactly how to do that!  Good-humored and willing—but not moving forward much.

Meanwhile, Manisha stepped right in and plowed forward, with lots of really creative ideas.  Eventually I got caught up in her creativity flow, and once I got moving, it was fun (whew!).  Good teamwork, and some good results.  :-)
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On the subject of weather, that's been consistent here at Laurelwood:  33 degrees and foggy.  Couple of weeks ago, though, there was an unusually cold spell for Oregon.  One morning I hopped in my car, and the temperature gauge said "18".  "Wow!" I thought, "I've never seen that before!"  Of course, it's relative... a friend here who lived in Alaska for 7 years, said that it was minus 70 degrees one day.  "Was that with wind chill?"  "Nope, that was the still air temperature.  It was amazing."

How silly it is to worry, or complain, about the weather.  Just accept, add some more layers—and enjoy how amazing it all is.
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This reminds me of a story I heard long ago, before coming to Ananda:

A PLACE THAT IS NEITHER HOT NOR COLD

In the ninth century there was in Tang China a Zen master called Dongshan Liangjie.  Once a monk in training asked Great Master Dongshan, “When heat and cold come, how can I avoid them?”

Dongshan said, “Why don’t you go where it’s neither hot nor cold?”

“What is this place of no heat or cold?”

Dongshan replied, “When it’s hot, become one with the heat; when it’s cold, become one with the cold. That is the place of no heat or cold.”


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I've actually found that useful a lot since.  So, it's hot?  Like, you're driving in 100 degree humid weather and there's no air conditioning?  Well, you can either 1) wish it were otherwise, worry, and complain (tense); or, 2) accept what is, adapt, and enjoy the amazing show (relax).

In other words, get into it.

And after all... whose show is it, anyway?

I've heard it said that fear is a form of athiesm.

Fear, worry, doubt... those habits presuppose that things are going wrong, we're in charge, and we have to fix it all.  That can be pretty overwhelming!

But, hmm... perhaps this is God's show, and things are unfolding exactly as they are meant to.  What would it mean if everything in front of us was a personal gift from God?  And it was EXACTLY what we wished for (in our souls, at least), and were meant to have, for our own highest happiness?

Gratitude, receptivity, good humor—these can take us far.  Ahhh.  Breathe, relax.

In fact, it's fun to challenge God to come up with really good solutions.  "Wow, Divine Mother, how in the world are we going to resolve THIS one?"  She's a brilliant scriptwriter, and ALWAYS comes up with great, and often unexpected, storylines.  Like a good Harry Potter read.  Very satisfying.

All our love!
Dambara & Manisha

New Land, New Consciousness Now Flood My Brain!

Well, the actual affirmation that accompanies the Ananda Yoga posture known as Halasana, or the Plow Pose, is "New life, new consciousness now flood my brain!"  (Kinda looks like a plow, huh?)

... but it's NEW LAND that's on our minds now!

To wit, this announcement just in from Daiva & Gangamata, the spiritual directors here at Ananda Portland:
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Dear Friends,

Just to update you:

We have all the funds needed for the balloon payment (as of yesterday), transferred them to escrow today, and sign the papers on Monday. As of that point, the Campus will be free of the debt to the old owners (confusing, I know, but follow along) and the Land will simply have the old balance of the Campus debt, which is not due for 2.5 years. This is a major milestone in being able to develop a full Ananda Community here in Laurelwood Valley.

Thank you for all your prayers, friendship, support, encouragement, investment…truly, a miracle, as the funds came within 24 hours of needing to be wired in, and missing the due date could have compromised even the campus as well as losing us the land and downpayment…

Whew, and thank you also (especially), Divine Mother, Masters and Swamiji.

Jai Guru, Jai Swamiji, Jai Ananda.

Love,

daiva and gangamata

PS Anyone who has been pondering investing, there is still need, and it is more secure than ever…Joy, d

[Email him here:  daiva "at" anandaportland "dot" org]
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WELL!!  This, if you've been following, is HUGE!  (That's our favorite word around here... describes the many College buildings perfectly:)

While in seclusion (personal spiritual retreat) on the College campus a week ago, I walked the perimeter of the 175 acres of lush green farmland that surrounds the 50-acre campus.  It was just... SO... beautiful!!  No way to conceive of that extraordinary opportunity slipping away!  But Divine Mother likes us to keep our energy high right up to the last moment!!

Deep, deep gratitude to Daiva, our investors, and all who've been part, and will be part, of this heroic effort.

Now... a new Ananda Community begins!  :-)
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Since we're talkin', Manisha and I have NEW email addresses, and I have a NEW phone number (as of today!)—please change 'em in your address book before the old ones go away:

Our NEW email addresses (listing them this way to avoid spambots):
dambara "at" anandaportland "dot" org
manisha "at" anandaportland "dot" org

Dambara's NEW cell:  971-258-8418
Manisha's same cell:  971-258-4196

Our address:
Dambara Begley & Manisha Holm
39497 SW Laurelwood Road
Gaston, OR  97119
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And hey, it wouldn't be a complete post without some recent Oregon pics.  Here are six for you.

Love, friendship and gratitude to you all!
Dambara & Manisha

“They may carry guns, but they’re friendly...”

That memorable quote came from a fellow dinner-goer in Green Hill Cafe at Ananda Laurelwood.

Photo taken a couple of evenings ago

Some background: our Ananda friend & neighbor Byasa had told us how he likes to gauge (no pun intended, as you'll see) the tone of places he visits by seeing what magazines are most popular in the racks.  He said that at Gaston Market he counted 18 gun-related magazines.

Gaston is 5 miles away, the nearest city to Laurelwood.  It's the smallest city in Washington County, with a population of 800.  (The largest is Hillsboro, population 92,000.)

There's a fun book Creek With No Name—How the West was Won (and Lost) in Gaston, Oregon that mentions Ananda!  After narrating how the Seventh Day Adventists' communitarian ideals here rose and ebbed from 1904 to 2004...plus how a Swedish Baptist utopian community in nearby Cherry Grove went bust in 1913...the author writes:

"In 2011, 100 years after Cherry Grove's founding, new religious life flowed in Laurelwood.  The Ananda religious community purchased the old Academy campus with an eye toward creating a worldwide spiritual retreat.  With a philosophy of harmony with nature, the Anandans' worldview nearly mirrors the Adventists'.  The community's leaders talk of bringing new commerce into Laurelwood, but slowly and on a sustainable scale... Now with the Anandans, God's followers feel a new groundswell of hope, and once again the epicenter is Gaston."

Nice, huh?

Well, since we're talking about it, you're probably wondering how the efforts have gone to raise the funds to purchase the 175 acres surrounding the College, with the deadline racing towards us!

Here's the latest info, excerpted from an email yesterday:

                           

URGENT:

Conference Calls
for Laurelwood Land Purchase
Investment Opportunity

Greetings,

For those of you who have been following the progress of this land purchase initiative, and are not sure whether to participate, we have two opportunities to receive more information.

CONFERENCE CALL #1: Wednesday, November 6, NOON with Chris, from Semble

CONFERENCE CALL #2: Saturday, November 9, 10am with Chris from Semble
(IF you cannot attend, and wish more information, please call Chris at 206.276.5135)

These conference calls are an opportunity to get your questions answered, discover the value and security of this investment, realize more fully how rare is this opportunity.

NOW IS THE TIME! November 24 is the date of the payment. We are very close to the goal - only $300k of $2,000k is left to be raised! If you have been considering helping out -

HELP US CLOSE THE GAP:

Invest in Valley Village, LLC (the Investment Group for Ananda Laurelwood) will help us all realize something greater than ourselves - Click Here to start an investment with returns...in more ways than one!

Bridge Loans can help us complete the purchase while seeking longer-term solutions. Talk to us, if this is possible.

Believe in this new property and growing community.
 
Share this opportunity with others who may have the means and be looking for a socially responsible, secure investment, or who believe in Ananda's vision of spiritual community spreading around the world. 

Visualize the land purchased and being developed into a full community that provides housing and neighborhoods while preserving farming, forestry, recreation and open spaces.

Forward this to any friends or family members, inviting them to speak with Semble directly, give Daiva their contact information, or have them contact Daiva directly.

Tour the land, hear the vision - view this two minute video Laurelwood Community Land.

We offer our warmest regards to those who already have committed to this one-time opportunity to create a full rural community in Oregon.

 

Blessings,

Daiva and Gangamata Glazzard

Directors

Ananda Center at Laurelwood

Email Daiva

So, that's the BIG local news... Please add whatever energy you can to our efforts!  :)

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...Oh, but wait... what about that quote in our title?

Well, across the street from Gaston Market is Gaston Feed, a farm & ranch supply store.  I stopped in there for the first time the other day.  As I walked through the front door, a man came toward me with a really big rifle.  Whoa!  Turns out he was a friend of the clerk, borrowing his gun for the weekend.

Recounting that story over dinner at the Green Hill Cafe, Manisha and I also commented that ALL the folks we’ve met in the stores, banks, insurance office, etc. here are SO genuinely friendly.

That’s when someone said "They may carry guns, but they're friendly!" :)
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So how and what are Manisha and I doing?  Well, just recently, we were asked to help be the umbrella coordinating & facilitating the various marketing, promotion, program & membership efforts here among the various Ananda entities.

Those entities include:  in Beaverton, the Ananda Temple & Teaching Center, Living Wisdom School, and the Ananda Portland Community; in  Laurelwood, Ananda College, Ananda House (Assisted Living), and the Ananda Center at Laurelwood.  Also related: New Renaissance Bookshop in Portland, owned by Ananda members Jamey and Darlene Potter.

Manisha just taped 9 different-colored sheets of paper to our office wall, for writing various ideas on (OK, if you’re counting, the other 2 entities are “Meditation Groups” in other cities in Oregon, and “Bakery”, which has to do with a building 2 minutes down from us Laurelwood Road that Ananda owns, and hopes to operate as a bakery in the future).

This all should be fun!
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We'll close this post with some local color.  Oregon is seriously scenic!  There's a gorgeous bike ride here, the Banks-Vernonia State Trail, that's a great example of a "rails to trails conversion"... an old railroad bed turned into a scenic trail.  Here are 7 photos revealing its autumnal glory.

Lastly, here are 8 more photos of Oregon color, from the Portland waterfront, and the Laurelwood Valley.

The hotel lobby is the Embassy Suites, formerly the Multnomah Hotel, once Portland's finest.  Yogananda stayed there and held 10 days of lectures and classes in 1924.  Nice vibe!

The one of the Beach Boys is from the Pendleton Home Store in Portland.  The Beach Boys were first named the Pendletones!

And the Vineyard and Valley Scenic Tour Route goes right past the Ananda Center at Laurelwood.

Blessings, joy, and all our love,
Dambara & Manisha

Laurelwood - First Impressions

Hello, all!  Apologies for not writing sooner.  It's been 3.5 weeks since I arrived at our new home here in Oregon (wife Manisha had been here 6 weeks prior).  ... But let's back up a bit:  How'd we get here?

Where last we left off, Dambara (aka Joe) was on staff with the Ananda center in Palo Alto; Manisha (aka Marilyn) was working as a consultant in the pharmaceutical industry, helping them with their clinical trials; and also volunteering a bunch with Ananda.  Both of us were living at the Ananda residential community in Mountain View—Dambara for 16 years, Manisha for 12.

Fast-forward:  Ananda, in Portland, Oregon (Beaverton, to be exact) has another Temple, Teaching Center, and School, plus nearby residential community—similar to Palo Alto, but at about 2/3 scale.  In the same way that Ananda Palo Alto had been looking for years to acquire a rural retreat—recently resulting in the purchase of 62-acre Ananda Valley Farm in Half Moon Bay (yay!)—Ananda Portland had also been looking for a beautiful rural area...

Enter Laurelwood.

The Laurelwood Valley, 16 miles west of Portland, is a gorgeous farmland and vineyard region.  Since the early 1900s, it's been home to another thriving (and vegetarian) spiritual community, the Seventh Day Adventists.  Over the years they built the Laurelwood Academy (the teal roofs at the left side of this beautiful photo by Kent Williams)—an amazingly large and well-rounded 50-acre campus for 500 high school and elementary students.

Then, over time, enrollment declined; eventually, the school moved to Jasper, Oregon, just outside of Eugene.  In 2007 the campus, plus 175 acres of surrounding farmland, was put up for sale.

When the leaders of Ananda Portland saw the campus property, plus the beautiful surrounding farmland (the top, and right half, of the photo above), they knew it had the potential to be a full-fledged World Brotherhood Colony, like Ananda Village.

All it required was $4 million.

Well, at the time, that figure was too large to compute for most Anandans.  Long story short:  what did happen was, in 2011 Ananda raised the funds to purchase the Laurelwood Campus only—but not the surrounding farmlands.

Still, the scope and potential of the campus alone amazed and inspired all who visited there.  Ananda College relocated from its former home at the Ananda Meditation Retreat to the new campus.

Then, the surrounding farmlands (without some of the homes and buildings included originally) came up for sale again.  By this time, the Ananda world had realized what an incredible opportunity that represented.  An offer was made, and accepted.  Price:  $2.2 million.  A $400K down payment was made, with a $1.8 million balloon payment due November 15, 2013—ohmygosh, less than a month away!

... But wait, we're getting ahead of ourselves; we were talking about how Dambara & Manisha got here...

Well, last March, a week before Easter, both of us flew up to be in a special concert performance at Laurelwood of Swami Kriyananda's Oratorio "Christ Lives".  It was the first time Manisha had visited the Laurelwood campus.  Still, no big "aha"...

Then, in April, we took an RV vacation, and headed up north to visit Redding (seriously, to see the Sundial Bridge); Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park; Ashland, OR, where we took in a couple of plays (plus removed Dambara's gall bladder); & a did few other hikes & visits, eventually ending up in Portland & Laurelwood, where we visited with friends for several days.

'Twas then that the magic hit.  Well, Manisha, mostly.  Her name means "Mind of God", or Divine Intuition... and she was on fire with the potential she beheld at Laurelwood.  "I'm moving here!" she declared.

My name, on the other hand, means "Self-Restraint". "No way!" I thought.  I'm perfectly content in Palo Alto, where I have a very satisfying job, friends, California sunshine...

So, eventually, we bought a house and moved here:

We're a 10-minute walk down the road from the campus.  It's a 100-year-old farm house on 2.5 acres, that's been kept up very well by the previous owners.

Now THAT is an adjustment.  I've never owned a home before.  I'd thought, "OK, this'll be a nice interim period where I can relax, catch up on some computer projects..."

Those of you who are homeowners can join me now:  "Ha Ha."

Plus, it's silly to think you can be anywhere near a place as roiling and dynamic as this campus is, and stay uninvolved for long.

It rained for the first 2 weeks I was here... (a loving "Ha Ha" from Divine Mother)... but now, it's sunny, and let me tell you, when the sun comes out, it's glorious, and your heart dances like in the monsoon dance scene from the movie Lagaan, only in reverse.

And driving anywhere nearby is simply a visual celebration.  This area is one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys on the planet.

OK, now, back to the land purchase... Ananda has until November 15 to pay the remaining $1.8 million (tho', ideally, $2 million) in order to secure the 175 acre farmland purchase.  We're trying something new:  rather than "only" tapping Ananda members & friends for donation and investment funds, we're working with an outside, professional investment company, Semble, to offer 4% return on loans investors make.

We've raised $1 million so far.  "Only" $1 million to go!

Disclaimer:  This blogpost is not intended as an investment pitch—Ananda has lots of expansion projects worldwide, and we don't want to compete with any of those.  However, it IS a reality that if we DON'T raise the funds, the land WILL be developed into thirty 5-acre lots by a housing developer.  YUK!

Ananda hopes to more consciously develop the land, preserving the existing open space, vistas & wildlands, while clustering homes and community centers into more beautiful groups, like at Ananda Village.

Folks should go here if interested, and to learn more.

That's the basic news so far.  People here are extraordinary... no surprise.  It's kinda like a frontier town.  And folks in Oregon are super-friendly.  But I suppose those details will have to await a future blogpost...

Joy and love to you all!

Oh, here are our particulars:

Dambara Begley & Manisha Holm
39497 SW Laurelwood Rd
Gaston, OR  97119

Dambara's cell:  650-224-9855
dambara108@gmail.com

Manisha's cell:  971-258-4196
manishaholm@gmail.com

P.S. we have a guest room.  :-)