Karma Yoga at Lotus Shrine and Darshan at Ananda Kutir

Yesterday the morning wake up at 5:30 am was some wonderful live violin music by one of the swami's here. Our morning meditation was followed by a great Hatha practice. It was quite challenging and the teacher who is a swami in her 60's demonstrated a beautiful peacock pose. There are carpets on the floors here and I am having a bit of trouble adapting- my wrists are a bit sore. After, we all performed some selfless service (karma Yoga) at the Lotus Shrine. Photos are coming when I return but think of the Taj Mahal nestled in fertile mountains. My job was vacuuming the stairs and cleaning the windows. I pay someone to clean my own house, but this was a fun group project. I met a drummer here, Robert, who happens to play with Baghavan Das! He will be coming to Jax with Babba in Jan.- small planet! I also met someone from New York who knows one of our students, Margaret Bruner.
Today I was very excited because we went to Swami Satichidananda's house, Ananda Kutir, for darshan. Swamiji has achieved maha samadhi and left the physical form, but his presence is still vibrantly felt at Ananda Kutir and the darshan room even has his clothes and shoes draped over a chair with his photo inside. I saw the same set up for Swami Sivananda in India and I find it very sweet. Our group sat in meditation and I found my own meditation to be extremely peaceful. As our cars pulled into the driveway for the house, 5 deer greeted us as they playfully ran through the yard. I considered it an auspicious omen and a personal greeting from Swami Satchidananda. There is a beautiful Shiva statue here on the top of a hill called Kailash and someone saw a bear there today!
The weather continues to be amazing with warm, sunny days and cool evenings and mornings. I have lots of free time to do a second asana practice so that I don't forget Ashtanga and to read and hike on the property. I heard about a cave today that i will look for tomorrow.
Tonight we celebrate Halloween, Samhain, All Saints and All Souls day with an ashram party including costumes. Tomorrow our group will be fasting all day and Kriya Cafe will be Friday. Will explain in my next post.
Peace, Love and Om,
shri