holiday greetings from nkb ashram
DESCRIPTION
Thank you for being part of this wonderful community. Here is a look at how we spent 2015 at The Neem Karoli Baba Ashram.TRANSCRIPT
from
Holiday Greetings
This year, Baba's Taos ashram served between 700 and 1000 meals
per week of Maharajji's prasad. The "Hanuman's Garden" farm har-
vested 2 tons of organic produce and distributed a free bag of organic
veggies each week to 14 needy families throughout the farm season
thanks to the "Donate a CSA Share" program.
By Maharajji's grace, the
Taos ashram community
continues to serve in Ba-
ba's tradition of "Feed
Everyone." As the year
comes to a close, let's take
inspiration from Dada's
words in his book "By His
Grace"....
"Babaji kept close watch
on everyone and every-
thing, down to the tiniest detail. He would visit the kitchens to keep
people alert. Early in the morning, as soon as the prasad-puris and
vegetables or halva-was prepared, he would examine it carefully to see
if the right ingredients had been used, if the potatoes were well-
cooked, and if the puris were well-fried. He would say that it was of
utmost importance to maintain the purity and sanctity of the prasad.
At Kainchi, huge quantities of food were served every day as prasad, in
sufficient amounts as to constitute a full meal for the majority of peo-
ple. Especially in the countryside, hunger is the bane of a large por-
tion of the population. Maharajji would remove the hunger of as
many as would come to him. Often he said, 'Food is God. Feeding the
hungry is actually worship.' People were well-acquainted with his
statements: 'God comes before the hungry as food', and 'First bhojan
(food) and then bhajan (prayer).'
Sometimes the amount of food prepared seemed to be more than could
be distributed, but Babaji always knew how many persons would be
visiting and how much prasad was to be served. He would tell me,
'Dada, prasad can never be in excess or surplus. It all depends on how
you distribute it. There should be no waste or misuse. People give
their money and provisions to Hanumanji. The day they are wasted,
they will not give to Hanumanji any more. This must not be forgotten.'
The bhandara would continue openly until five o' clock. Babaji used to
make his rounds of the ashram after the gates closed. One day we
came to the prasad room and found there was a full basket of puris and
two buckets of potatoes that had remained undistributed. The puris
could be taken by the ashramites at night, but the potatoes would
surely be wasted. The prasad had been distributed by some elderly
people. I said, 'Couldn't they see by three or four o'clock that they
needed to increase the amount of prasad that was distributed?'
Baba looked at me, smiled and said, 'Dada, you do not know how very
painful it must be to give. They would rather waste and throw away
than give to others...It is not easy to do bhandara in
the name of Hanumanji. If you give only to the people
of your choice, then the food will remain and go to
waste. If you have offered your food to Hanumanji, it
no longer belongs to you. Hanumanji himself sees that
people get their prasad.'
If you think that you or I have something, we cannot
give. You must think of it as Hanumanji's-that only
he can give. You are only the ladle, the leaf on which
it is being given".
Anandi
General Manager
The Neem Karoli Baba Ashram
Greetings!
As the nights grow longer, and the cold settles in, we are
thankful for the vibrant community at NKB Ashram in Taos,
NM.
Throughout the year we have said goodbye to good friends,
greeted new babies and families into our circle. We have sung
to Hanuman, prayed to Baba, honored the
Goddess in all of her forms. We honored all of our
children (Kumaris) on the tenth night of Durga
Puja.
We celebrated an abundant
Thanksgiving and gathered
around the big table in the
kitchen for a family style
Hanuman Chalisa before
enjoying Prasad.
As we go into the new year,
after experiencing these
darkest nights may we
remember how precious are
our connections to each
other.
Namaste!
Harmony
Media Manager
Neem Karoli Baba Ashram
Taos, New Mexico
Winter Schedule Temple is open daily 7 am-8 pm in winter (October-March) and 7 am-9 pm in sum-
mer (April-September).
Weekly Schedule
Tuesday Kirtan (starting at 4 pm in winter, 5 pm in summer) Followed by prasad
and evening aarti
Thursdays-Reading from the Ramayana, the beautiful tale of Ram, Sita and Hanu-
man, every Thursday at 6 pm in the temple room.
Sunday 11 am Chanting of Hanuman Chaleesa Followed by aarti and prasad
2016 Festivals Maha Shivaratri Monday, March 7
Festival starts at sunset and continues all night
Hanuman Jayanti Friday, April 15-Saturday, April 16
Chanting of Hanuman Chaleesa begins at 1:08 pm on Friday and continues for 24 hours, fol-
lowed by aarti and prasad
Guru Purnima Monday, July 18-Tuesday, July 19
Chanting of Maha Mantra (Hare Rama, Hare Krishna) begins at 1:08 pm on Friday and contin-
ues for 24 hours, followed by aarti and prasad
Maharaj-ji's Mahasamadhi Bhandara Friday, September 9-Saturday 10
Chanting of Hanuman Chaleesa begins at 1:08 pm on Friday and continues for 24 hours, fol-
lowed by aarti and prasad
Navratri
Saturday, October 1-Monday, October 10
Festivities begin each evening at sunset.
I feel so blessed each day to come to Baba’s ashram, to use the skills I acquired
through my lifetime, to contribute and take care of the earthly needs at the
ashram. Thank you to all the donors through who’s kind-
ness & generosity we can lovingly continue our work
here. Thank you to my co workers whose hard work and
seva is so evident and heartfelt. By His grace... With so
much love. Tara
Marigolds
Happy
Birthday
Hanuman!
Bhandara 2015 This year’s Ram Lila was first class!
We practiced for many weeks to
entertain guests with this fantastic tale of
Sita and Ram!
Durga Puja