Ananda's Blog

How to Deal with Setbacks

When something upsets us, we can remind ourselves: “Yes, this is the material world, and this is bound to happen. When a stone drops into...

Entering Kartik

It’s that time of year again in which the sun moves away from the Earth, temperatures drop and darker days start moving in. For many of...

In Search of Sweet

As my bare feet hit the cold marble floor of the altar during the early morning service hours I whispered, ‘Oh, so cold!’. My fellow...

5 Meditations for Dushera

This week we celebrate the Ramayana, the epic from India that centers around the kidnapping and rescue of Princess Sita. Although we may...

The First Red Leaf

The first red leaf greeted me this morning Among the dull colors of the other fallen leaves It’s redness smiled a reminder of time...

The Eye of the Needle

About a month ago I posted a blog called The Thread of Life, about a chain of islands off the coast of Maine. I’d been in Maine visiting...

4 Ways to Meditate

A simple definition of meditation is to ‘think deeply about something’. A broader definition includes ‘to think deeply or focus one's...

From the Heart

Have you heard kirtan leaders say“Chant from the heart!”? What do they mean by this? We have three hearts: the physical pump, the...

Humility

Humility sits in quietness not needing nothing Being content It takes up less space On the outside For it’s large and beautiful self Owns...

Definitions of Yoga

There is a lightness to the definition of yoga that says: ‘yoga means keeping in touch with the Supreme’. It’s a friendly invitation to...