As the time stamp says, it's a Saturday in September of 2013. I am in India at Dhyanidham, the ashram led by Shri Anandi Ma and dedicated to her guru, Shri Dhyanyogi Madhusudandasji. After two weeks of heat and humidity, today's weather prepares us for tomorrow, the first day of fall, by being overcast and comfortably cool. I open the front and back doors of my flat and let the breeze clear the indoor air.
I did not expect to start this record with a weather report, but neither did I expect to start it more than a year after the idea first presented itself. I was in Dhyanidham in January of 2012 and received Ma and Bapuji's blessing for the project at that time. I began taking photos and making notes, and once I got home, I found this site, but I never found a way to put the pieces together that felt right. Returning on this trip with all the files, I have spent many happy hours combining photos and text, creating a semblance of organization and updating many sections with new information.
But the result began to feel less like a conversation and more like an instruction manual. For example, with great enthusiasm I created 6 illustrated pages including 11 points on how to use the apartment's washing machine. Useful to people coming to Dhyanidham, perhaps, but not the stuff of legend.
And then this week, a miracle. I received internet access in my flat here at the ashram.
Half happy and half horrified, I had trouble sleeping that night, unsure how my experience of peace in this place would endure the lure of the internet. But after a couple hours of surfing, I came to realize that the internet is not really a very interesting place. Dhyanidham, on the other hand, is endlessly fascinating to me. And then another idea struck: I've got this internet access, so why not use it to share all the little things about Dhyanidham that don't belong in an instruction manual?
So I dusted off this site and now have two projects to work on: a guide for how to live here, and a conversation about life here. Let's see if I can figure out how to show and tell.
Shri Ramachandra Bhagavana Ki Jai! Sadaguru Deva Ki Jai! Ambe Mata Ki Jai! Narmade Mata Ki Jai! OM Namo Parvati Pataye Hara Hara Mahadeva Hara!
I did not expect to start this record with a weather report, but neither did I expect to start it more than a year after the idea first presented itself. I was in Dhyanidham in January of 2012 and received Ma and Bapuji's blessing for the project at that time. I began taking photos and making notes, and once I got home, I found this site, but I never found a way to put the pieces together that felt right. Returning on this trip with all the files, I have spent many happy hours combining photos and text, creating a semblance of organization and updating many sections with new information.
But the result began to feel less like a conversation and more like an instruction manual. For example, with great enthusiasm I created 6 illustrated pages including 11 points on how to use the apartment's washing machine. Useful to people coming to Dhyanidham, perhaps, but not the stuff of legend.
And then this week, a miracle. I received internet access in my flat here at the ashram.
Half happy and half horrified, I had trouble sleeping that night, unsure how my experience of peace in this place would endure the lure of the internet. But after a couple hours of surfing, I came to realize that the internet is not really a very interesting place. Dhyanidham, on the other hand, is endlessly fascinating to me. And then another idea struck: I've got this internet access, so why not use it to share all the little things about Dhyanidham that don't belong in an instruction manual?
So I dusted off this site and now have two projects to work on: a guide for how to live here, and a conversation about life here. Let's see if I can figure out how to show and tell.
Shri Ramachandra Bhagavana Ki Jai! Sadaguru Deva Ki Jai! Ambe Mata Ki Jai! Narmade Mata Ki Jai! OM Namo Parvati Pataye Hara Hara Mahadeva Hara!
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