Welcoming the New Year at the Ashram

by Rev. Jaspal Soni and Rev. Lois Drake

Like every year, we welcomed the 2018 New Year at the ashram on December 30 on our spacious third floor penthouse under a blue sky and a warm sun. It seems like it has become an annual tradition to do so as our members anticipate and plan ahead celebrating the New Year with other community members at the ashram. The temperature was in a comfortable and cozy range in the upper seventies with light wind. The festivities were held from 1:00-3:00 pm.

We began with an invocation by Mother followed by the chakra clearance meditation by Mother, and a few selected songs and decrees leading up to the consecration of the letters to the Karmic Board. The service concluded with light Indian refreshments. Many people brought sweets and other delicious edibles as it is a custom here for people to bring something. It was a very moving service with over 20 people in attendance. We were happy to welcome some new people who came from the neighboring town of Noida located in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

In preparation we had created a nice booklet with selected songs and decrees. The songs included Precious Gautama, Beloved Chananda, The Great Director, and The Great Karmic Board. The decrees included Heart, Head and Hand, Law of Forgiveness, Sweet Surrender to Our Holy Vow, The Great Divine Director, and Great Karmic Board. We have learned that since many people do not necessarily understand the meaning of songs and decrees, it helps to first explain the meaning of the words and then it becomes more acceptable.

The highlight of the service was the letters to the Karmic Board. Before consecrating the letters, one of our long-time members shared her testimonial with the group. She said that before coming to the ashram for the New Year service that day, she happened to find a copy of the letter to the Karmic Board she had written the previous year. As she was reading it, she was filled with tears of gratefulness because 90% of the requests she had made to the Karmic Board at that time had been granted. We burned the letters while standing around the ring of fire and chanting the Gayathri mantra. It was a bonding as well as a celestial experience to behold as people looked very joyous!

Upcoming Opportunities

Looking ahead in the year, we are grateful to the masters for new outreach opportunities, including:

• On January 31, we are planning to meet with a group of seekers in a nearby town of Noida in Uttar Pradesh to share the teachings. We had visited this group once before in November.
• On February 10, we are meeting with another group of devotees in the nearby city of Ghaziabad (also in Uttar Pradesh) to hold a two-hour workshop on violet flame. This will be our first workshop in this city. The theme of the workshop is “Violet Flame Comes to the City of Ghaziabad for the First Time.”
• On February 24-25, we will be visiting Jaipur (in Rajasthan) again for two lectures on “Keys to Attracting Money and Cosmic Abundance!” We had visited Jaipur previously in December 2017.
• On March 16-18, we will be participating in a Life Positive Magazine Expo (a new age event) in Delhi where we will have set-up a booth with our books and material to share the teachings and invite people to visit the ashram.
• On April 14-15, we will be holding a Summit University seminar in a nearby Delhi hotel, “Experience the Light Within through the Blessings of the Violet Agni.” It will be mainly presented in Hindi for the Indian audience. We are hoping many old members and new seekers will be able to attend.

Please pray for the God-Victory of these events and cutting loose of our brothers and sisters who are meant to attend. Thank you for your kind support!