Voluntary League Appeal S UMMER 2015 My only desire is that I may establish this work as a divine oasis where aspiring souls may quench their thirst. Paramahansa Yogananda Dear Friend, It is through your help that we are able to perpetuate the spiritual oasis that Paramahansa Yogananda envisioned and dedicated his life to establishing. Your ongoing support is very much appreciated. One student of the Guru s teachings recently shared with us his gratitude for the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons in these inspiring words: The teachings of SRF have helped to give me the peace and way to find God that I have been looking for. These teachings have helped to give me balance and direction in life that I didn t have before. It is my belief that if everyone took the time to study these Lessons, they would feel the presence of God within them, and this world would be the perfect paradise that God intended. Making Paramahansaji s teachings available to as many as possible is a labor of love for those of us blessed to serve in the Self-Realization Fellowship ashrams and without you, we could not continue to reach thousands every day with his message. The Guru s family is a diverse one that includes persons of all ages, races, and nationalities. Assisted by your support, SRF strives to meet their various needs for example, creating special programs for young people and translating editions of SRF books for non-english speakers. In the enclosed newsletter, we share more on these important efforts to serve our world family. Your support also helps to house and feed the Self-Realization Fellowship monastic order a group of dedicated monks and nuns who have vowed to lead lives of meditation and service to God and humanity. Last year your gifts allowed us to undertake a much-needed seismic retrofitting and renovation of the venerable main ashram for the SRF nuns. Thank you for helping us to ensure their safety in earthquakeprone Los Angeles. While significant work has been accomplished as a result of your selfless contributions (as you can read in our newsletter), much remains to be done and your support would be deeply appreciated. Once again we invite you to contribute to these and the many other activities of Self-Realization Fellowship through a gift to our Voluntary League Appeal. Paramahansaji said: To give physical help to a neighbor is good, to give him mental and moral help so that he can help himself is better, and to give him God-consciousness and freedom from ignorance through spiritual upliftment is best. Together we can help many in all parts of the world to receive life s most valuable gifts through the guidance and blessings of our ever-living Guru and Paramgurus. In divine friendship, SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP Mother Center SRI MRINALINI MATA, PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS: 3880 SAN RAFAEL AVENUE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90065-3219 TEL: (323) 225-2471 FAX: (323) 225-5088 www.yogananda-srf.org IN INDIA: YOGODA SATSANGA SOCIETY OF INDIA
Voluntary League Newsletter A REPORT ON OUR RECENT ACTIVITIES SUMMER 2015 How-to-Live Summer Day Program Helping Youngsters Chart a Godward Course The ideal of right education for youth had always been very close to my heart. So wrote Paramahansa Yogananda in Autobiography of a Yogi. Considering these words, it is not surprising that the first organization our Guru founded was a school that followed the ancient ideals of the rishis. From a humble beginning in 1917 that counted seven students, it quickly blossomed into an institution that had 2,000 students applying for admission just two years later. The new How-to-Live Summer Day Program in Encinitas is our latest step in furthering Paramahansaji s vision of helping young people make the spiritual path the bedrock of their lives. Conducted by SRF monastics with the assistance of longtime devoted lay members who have extensive experience working with children and youths, the new program offers separate weeklong day sessions (9:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m.) for children age 7 to 12 and teens age 13 to 18. During this special week ( June 22 26 for the girls program and June 29 July 3 for the boys ), children and teens will learn and practice the SRF spiritual techniques including the Energization Exercises and, depending on their age, the Hong-Sau Technique or Aum Technique. They will also immerse themselves in Paramahansaji s How-to-Live teachings through fun, interactive classes that can help them in their daily lives, as well as participate in a variety of other activities and sports. Teens will choose whether they wish to participate in drama, music, creative writing, or science experiments all with an engaging spiritual focus. Held at an idyllic location just four miles from the SRF Paramahansa Yogananda in 1936 with students of a girls school he established in Ranchi, India. Encinitas Ashram Center and Hermitage (see photo below), the site of the new How-to-Live Summer Day Program is on a beautiful campus that has modern classrooms, large grass fields, a basketball court, an amphitheater, two computer labs, a music room, an art room, and recreational equipment. Children and teens will also make pilgrimages to our Guru s hermitage, see where he wrote his Autobiography of a Yogi, meditate in the serene gardens overlooking the ocean, and hear monastics tell stories of his life. One devotee closely involved with the program wrote: It would be difficult to imagine a site that could better support the Summer Day Program and its spiritual objectives. Following Paramahansa Yogananda s educational ideals, most classes and activities will take place outdoors under large, sunlit, octagonal canopies and Indian pandals. A monastic will be assigned to each group to teach the SRF techniques of meditation, and to conduct classes and informal satsangas. Long-time Kriyaban lay disciples who have received special training for the program will engage the children and teens in a variety of activities that highlight aspects of Paramahansaji s
teachings that relate to their lives. Each participant will receive loving attention, encouragement, and support. Just as important, they will have the opportunity to make lasting spiritual friendships with others of their age group. Much preparation, effort, and prayer have been put into developing the program, and we feel all will find it to be uplifting, beneficial, and joyful. Programs that bring Paramahansaji s timeless teachings to youth have proven to leave a lasting impression that inspires participants throughout the year and helps them set the Some of the SRF monastics and lay members who will lead the Summer Day Program, at an on-site planning meeting earlier this year course for the rest of their lives. Inner Strength is this year s theme a timely topic considering the challenges and pressures of our complex global society. The many activities of the week are intended to help youth cultivate courage and fearlessness so they can thrive and be a positive influence in our fast-changing world. Scholarships are available for children and teens. It is our sincere wish that all young people who want to attend have the opportunity to do so. Please contact the SRF Youth Services Department at the Mother Center for further information. Paramahansaji once said: From childhood, there should be emphasis on the importance of educating our young people in developing their moral and spiritual consciousness. That training is essential, because the universal principles of virtue are the foundation of a happy and successful life. May the new How-to-Live Summer Day Programs help children and teens set their young lives in a Godward direction! For more information, accommodation suggestions for out-of-towners, and to complete an application, visit our website: www.yogananda-srf.org/summerdayprogram. Or email us at: YouthServices@yogananda-srf.org, or phone: (818) 549-5160. Helping to Establish a World Family on the...foundation of Wisdom : SRF Translations Department I am neither a Hindu nor an American. Humanity is my race, and no one on earth can make me feel otherwise...resolve that you will love the world as your own nation...through this understanding you will help to establish a world family on the indestructible foundation of wisdom. Thus did Paramahansa Yogananda express his deep love for all humanity and his vision of spiritual unity among all people. One important way SRF promotes our Guru s vision is to translate the library of his soul-awakening wisdom into other languages. In recent years, SRF s translations department has been more active than ever, taking advantage of print-on-demand technology to make Paramahansaji s teachings available to millions in their native tongue. SRF now offers more than 240 editions in twenty-five languages via SRF s online bookstore and via Amazon.com and bookstores worldwide. And work is in progress on editions in twelve additional languages by our ever expanding translation teams of volunteers and professionals. Thanks to the combined efforts of SRF s translators and their counterparts at Yogoda Satsanga Society of India (as our Guru s work is known in India), a large part of our Guru s vast body of writings is now available in languages understood by an amazing 98% of the world population. Our latest publications include five new translations of Autobiography of a Yogi in Filipino,
Hungarian, Kazakh, Turkish, and Vietnamese. This messenger of our Guru has now been published in more than thirty-five languages (including several editions brought out by Yogoda Satsanga Society of India). Also in store for 2015: the first volume in Spanish of God Talks With Arjuna (Paramahansa Yogananda s acclaimed translation of and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita); the first volume of The Second Coming of Christ: The Resurrection of the Christ Within You in Portuguese; Man s Eternal Quest in Russian and Greek; Scientific Healing Affirmations in Chinese, Japanese, and Polish; and many other titles. Our translations team has also been busy translating the film AWAKE: The Life of Yogananda into some thirteen languages for global distribution. Additionally, a German-language version of the SRF website was launched last year, a Portuguese-language version was launched in April this year, and more are in the works. To complement these translation efforts, staff in SRF s book sales department have been working to increase the availability of our Guru s books not only through online vendors but in bookstores around the world. Their efforts have already produced notable results, and we are looking forward to further expansion along these lines. Your support of Self-Realization Fellowship helps spread the light of our Guru s teachings to truth-seeking souls everywhere. Keeping Current With Today s Technology: SRF s New Online Bookstore SRF s goal is to make sure that Paramahansa Yogananda s incomparable teachings can easily reach truth seekers, and this requires adapting to ever-changing technology. Thanks to your ongoing help, one such initiative a new and improved online bookstore recently blossomed into fulfillment after months of development. We hope the new bookstore makes it easier for you to receive the timeless wisdom of our Guru, and we invite you to visit www.srfbooks.org to browse SRF s complete collection of books, audio recordings, and videos. You ll also find photographs of Paramahansa Yogananda, current and back issues of Self-Realization magazine, and, later in June, the newly released music soundtrack CD from AWAKE: The Life of Yogananda. Also underway is a new portal for more SRF ebooks by Paramahansaji and disciples, which we look forward to announcing in the months to come. (Please note that you will need to enter new account information to make purchases, even if you were previously registered on the earlier version of our online catalog.) Now visitors can: Use the look inside feature to preview books Listen to samples of our full line of audio talks and music CDs Download MP3 versions of talks from our popular Self-Realization magazine audio series (with more talks and music collections to follow soon) Shop easily from a mobile device Search more quickly for products of interest
Progress Report: The Gyanamata Ashram at the Mother Center Our deepest gratitude to all of you who have contributed thus far to the Gyanamata Ashram project a vital upgrade to the nearly fifty-year-old building that is the main ashram of SRF nuns. Constructed long before the development of today s seismic safety standards, it lacked safety features to protect the nuns who reside there in the event of a major earthquake. We are addressing this, and bringing the building up to current standards of energy efficiency. Work on one wing of the building was completed earlier this year and the nuns have moved back into their rooms. (Photo below left shows this section of the building just prior to completion, after the installation of new shear panels that are critical to safety in an earthquake.) Currently, work is underway on the second wing and centrally located community areas (see photo right). With your help we hope to raise the remaining $922,000 needed to complete the project in mid-2016 thus ensuring that this cherished and sacred home of the nuns order endures. The Guru s Eternal Guidance Our Guru said: When I am gone, the teachings will be the guru. Through them I will speak to you and guide you. Commenting on this sublime promise, SRF s president and spiritual head, Sri Mrinalini Mata, once said: He could say that because he knew that the sum and substance of his whole life, his mission, all that he was and is, he has totally shared with us in these teachings. To take his teachings and assimilate their truths is literally to sit at the Guru s feet and to imbibe his wisdom. Feel, as he intended it to be, that you are sitting before him, and that his words are not just beautiful expressions of truth..., but that these are direct words of guidance to you personally. Your help is critical in enabling the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda to reach around the world to inspire and guide so many sincere souls. We offer you our heartfelt and abiding gratitude for your selfless contributions, and we pray that through your own personal commitment to his teachings you may find the priceless gift of lasting happiness. SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP 3880 San Rafael Avenue Los Angeles, California 90065-3219 U.S.A. www.yogananda-srf.org Contributions in response to Self-Realization Fellowship s summer 2015 Voluntary League Appeal are for the general support of SRF. As such, gifts shall be designated, and remain, unrestricted and can be utilized for whatever purposes SRF determines. Activities mentioned in the enclosed newsletter (such as developing programs for youth and bringing out editions in translation) are among those that regularly benefit from such general donations. In addition, a portion of the summer 2015 Voluntary League Appeal will be allocated to the retrofit and renovation of the Gyanamata Ashram at the SRF Mother Center. Donations received later than approximately twelve months after the mailing date will be credited to the most recent Voluntary League Appeal. Self-Realization Fellowship is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service and the State of California as a taxexempt organization. Accordingly, donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law. Copyright 2015 Self-Realization Fellowship. All rights reserved. Printed on recycled paper c 10264-J3731