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Ananda at the SRF Convocation News from Asha Wednesday, August 22, 2001 Dear Everybody: Well, today was a landmark day. First, a little background. By the end of yesterday—Tuesday—we were all feeling that things were going well, but somehow the SRF people were not getting the point as much as we wanted them to. We were having trouble giving away any more newspapers. Those who wanted them had them. We only had access to those staying in hotels other than the Bonaventure—those who walked on the sidewalks in the area where we were standing. Nitai had a long conversation with an SRF person and after 20 minutes Nitai finally realized the man didn’t really know there was a lawsuit and didn’t appreciate that we were there because of the lawsuit. A little more background: there was great concern when we started planning this project that it would be too confrontational and would engender anger in SRF members and even in Ananda members. Signs, especially picket signs, seemed to be the definition of confrontation. So to be sure we didn’t cross a line and create energy we didn’t want to create, we decided to keep signage entirely neutral. So we have been holding up only two signs: www.YoganandaRediscovered.org, and our offerings in the Ananda Room at the Biltmore. SRF’s letter to convocation attendees said that Ananda is here to “publicize their activities.” And, in fact, it seemed to be turning into that. We have been running a modest business in videos and first edition AY’s and also talking to people, but we weren’t having the impact we wanted to have. A large group of us got together and it was pretty much agreed we needed more direct signage. Something that answered the question “Why are you here?” We were limited also by certain guidelines the lawyers have given us having to do with the fact that we are in litigation. So last night, Karen and David went off to the nearby Kinko’s—God bless Kinko’s being open 24 hours—and made up a whole bunch of new signs with the following slogans: “Why has SRF spent millions of dollars suing fellow devotees?” “SRF has been suing Ananda for eleven years. When will it end?” “When I am gone, only love can take my place.” -- Paramhansa Yogananda to Daya Mata “Love... not lawsuits.” We decided that we needed to be on the sidewalks as the SRF members were coming in for their morning meditation. So we meditated at 6 am instead of our usual 7 am, gave up our morning meeting, and headed out en masse with our new signs. There is a very wide gallery/corridor here—30 or 40 feet across with a very high ceiling. It runs the length of the ground floor of the hotel. There is always some classical music playing in that corridor. It varies widely, you never know what you are going to hear. Most of the Ananda folk were well down the hallway when I came downstairs from the Ananda Room. I saw them marching with great determination as a group, carrying their new signs, heading for the outdoors. I realized that the music was also horns and drums and very much more martial music than anything we had heard before. It seemed like a good omen. We went to our usual positions on the sidewalk and immediately could see that our new signs were really getting attention. I was up on an open walkway that crosses a busy street. I said good-morning to everyone who came by and cheerfully informed them, as I held up my sign, which happened to be the “only love” version, that we have decided to make our position more clear today. Most people responded cheerfully to my cheeriness. A few just didn’t know what to do with me and my sign and pretended I wasn’t there. We noticed that many, many buses were lined up at the main entrance of the hotel. A man who stopped to talk with me said that tours were going out to the SRF centers from 8-10 am. So we all gathered at the bus side of the hotel, which is our long strip of sidewalk between the street and the drive through driveway. We were about 30 people, at least, two guitars and a harmonium—and lots of our new signs. Across the driveway were hundreds of SRF members, coming out group after group after group to get on the buses for their field trips. For the first time we were standing in front of lots of the devotees who have been staying in the Bonaventure and mostly had not crossed out path before. There were many SRF volunteers carrying out this elaborate system of buses to different locations and tickets, etc. We lined up on either side of the entry doors to the buses and just chanted and chanted and chanted. People waited at the hotel entrance for their bus to pull up and we were just looking right across the driveway at one another. Many SRF people smiled and quite enjoyed the whole scene. A few looked annoyed. The SRF volunteers stayed very much in the spine. I was having such a good time I had to hold the sign in front of my face because I was just laughing at what God had arranged. We were there for about an hour. It just couldn’t have been better. We all really felt our signs were just exactly what was needed. Quite a few people getting on the buses said things like, “I had no idea this was happening.” One of the volunteers with whom I spent the morning at one point said to me, “You are having a lot of fun.” I may have said “yes,” or nothing at all, I don’t recall, but then after a moment I said, “No this is not fun.” He replied, “You are smiling.” “Joy is the nature of the soul,” I said. “This is not fun. This is a terrible situation. And we just didn’t know what else to do.” I went on to tell him that SRF has been suing us for eleven years. That Ananda has won everything. That SRF claims it is all so simple but it isn’t and in fact they have win virtually nothing so far in court. He did not reply. Later I offered to discuss it with him more and he politely declined. By the end of the hour, when the flow of SRF people had declined to a mere trickle, someone from SRF figured out they could “protect” the SRF members by forming a corridor of volunteers. So for the last bus, there were three volunteers on each side of the door, and one volunteer escorting individual SRF members across the driveway into the bus. A few of us stood just behind the volunteers; the rest of Ananda was lined up on the thin sidewalk. Lots of SRF people greeted us happily as they entered the bus. Some are friends—a couple who go to our church came by, the woman laughed happily to see us there, hugged and kissed me and then got on the bus. Afterwards we thanked the volunteers for being so courteous to us. About noon, the buses start returning, and many Ananda folk will be there to greet them. Everyone from Ananda was blissfully happy. Several people have said this week that they have never felt so inspired as they are feeling standing on the sidewalk here. Last night, a group went down to the Bonaventure entryway to chant as people were leaving for the night. They started chanting “God of Beauty” and chanted it for one hour and 45 minutes. As they said later, it just felt like what they ought to be doing. Today we chanted and then also sang quite a few of Swami Kriyananda’s songs. Those songs—the words and the melodies—speak so directly of courage and commitment. They are perfect for the occasion. Yesterday, an SRF member told me that several weeks ago a letter was sent to “all the west coast SRF churches.” He doesn’t live near a church, so I think he meant centers and meditation groups, too. In any case, he said the letter was from Daya Mata and it was read at the Sunday service. Of course we are only getting his recollection, but this is what the letter contained that he remembered. She started by saying that Master never spoke of legal matters but Daya Mata is forced now to speak out anyway. Then she talked about the lawsuit with Ananda. She talked about our changing our name. She also said that there is only one lawsuit. That SRF only ever filed one lawsuit, not two, as some people claim. Then Daya said that Ananda planned to “picket” the convocation and that was why she was writing. I asked the SRF person if he got any impression from the letter that the lawsuit was still going on. He said, no, it did not give that impression. We have also gathered from what SRF folk are telling us that the general impression the SRF monastics are giving about Ananda is that we are a little bit sad and pathetic and they should be kind to us. We are more to be pitied than censured or feared. That was SRF’s letter to the attendees that we saw the first day. There was a quote from Daya Mata about compassion and then the next paragraph began, “On that note....” and talked about Ananda. In others words, they should feel sorry for us. And just pronam and go on—which is what a lot of them have been doing. The visit to Mt. Washington also went very well yesterday. A group sat on a small staircase right near the entrance and chanted their hearts out for quite awhile. SRF people were visiting and the sound of our chanting carried over the property. The security guard later told an Ananda person that our chanting was the highlight of his day and asked if we were coming back. Groups went again today to both the Hollywood Church and Mt. Washington. The residents monastics of both places have brought out cool drinks for the Ananda people. At Mt. Washington they even allowed the Ananda folk to come onto the grounds “as long as we didn’t pass out literature inside.” Clearly the policy is to be nice to us. And, to close today’s report, Karen just sent me an e-mail with some scenes she witnessed or heard about this morning: • Three very young people came over to us, and one woman just stood, slightly trembling, gazing deeply into my eyes. She said, “I love your singing. You have the most beautiful voice.” I was amazed, wondering how she could pick out my voice among all the others. She explained, “I heard you sing at Ananda, when I was at Spiritual Renewal Week. I and my friend spent two weeks there, and it was an incredible experience. She continued to look into my eyes with great love, and said, “I am so sad about what is happening. I do not understand how they could be doing this to you.” Deep emotion was registered on her face, with her eyes tearing up. Then, without a word, she and her two friends crossed that imaginary line that separated “us” and “them,” closed her eyes, and joined us in singing. I, too, began to weep. • There was so much joy holding our signs, and saying why we were here. Our own people had that perfect combination of joy and power on their faces. Krishnadas had the best expression, I thought. Eyes blazing like fire, no hint of smile on his lips, power emanating from his heart. • A psychologist in our group commented that both Ananda people and SRF people are very skilled at “holding their space.” There was respect and space, especially from the SRF ushers, who maintained a dignified, neutral presence, offering a sense of order to their members. They occasionally smiled at us, and not in a condescending manner. • One man angrily said, “Lies! SRF could never be doing these things.” One of our people said, “Well, they are doing them.” And someone else behind added, “And much worse.” • One woman with SRF started singing loudly with us, from about 30 feet away. She was waving her arms trying—without success—to get others to join in. When she departed, she waved a blessing to us. • An SRF woman came up to me on the street this am, and said, “Why are you out here in the cold? Come in and join us!” She was from overseas, and didn’t seem to realize who we were. I said, “I don’t think we would be welcome.” She said, “Nonsense! Everyone is welcome. I will speak to them and arrange to have you all invited in.” I thanked her, gave her a newspaper, and wished her luck. • An attorney came by our hospitality room, and expressed great unhappiness with what SRF was doing to us. He was a new member, and wisely concluded, “I cannot feel good about what this organization is doing. But I will never lose my connection with Yogananda. He would never have done this.” We have not wanted to shake people’s faith in Yogananda by attacking SRF, and we were pleased to see even a new member appreciating the difference between the Master and the group he founded. • An SRF member shared that he is very close friends with a long-time monk at SRF. The monk recently said to him sadly, “What with the Ananda lawsuit, and the schism within SRF between the reformists and the hardliners, I don’t even know why I became a monk.” He is thinking of leaving. We heard from others that many monastics have left over the past year. • An SRF member said that a leading monk spoke briefly and generally about Ananda during a Convocation session early in the week. He closed by saying with regard to Ananda, “SRF has made some decisions that weren’t the best.” We asked another SRF member who was listening to our conversation if this was accurate, and she concurred. We should add, that any quotes we share about what was said within Convocation are ordinary people’s best recollection, and are shared as that. • A couple bought a copy of the AY and a video. Later, one of our people spotted them from across the room in the Bonaventure Hotel. They waved and held up the two items, calling out “we are thinking of crossing over to the other side!” • We are seeing many former Ananda members at Convocation. One couple took a newspaper, then came out later and said, “Give me a stack. I want to give these to friends inside.” Another former Ananda member who had been involved in many negative things against Ananda during the Bertolucci case was greeted warmly by one of our members, and seemed touched. He spoke briefly with us, saying “I’m still so confused by all of this. I just don’t know what to think.” Others had some challenging conversations with former Ananda members who had spoken quite strongly against Swami, and we were pleased to be able to speak on his behalf. Everyone has been kind, and sometimes strong when needed. Ananda people are radiating joy and strength. Asha mentioned that she has been smiling a lot. Many of us are smiling, and I am sure it must be confusing to SRF members to see so much joy in the face of the message we are sharing. I must confess, I have to work hard to put a serious look back on my face. • Nitai spoke at length with an SRF member who was at SRF when Swami was there. He was very negative about Swami, but Nitai diffused the conversation by asking him to share stories of Master. By the end, the man said, “Maybe when all of us old people die, things will be better between us.” • One long-time SRF member said that he had planned to leave part of his estate to SRF. After learning about the lawsuit and SRF’s treatment of Swami, he vowed to write SRF out of his will. • Several SRF people naturally expressed great unhappiness and anger that we were there during their special retreat week. One asked quite belligerently why we were there, then. David G said to one, “There is nothing I’d rather do less than stand on the streets of LA doing this during your Convocation. But we feel we have no choice. If you can think of any better way we can tell you what is happening, I guarantee you I will leave now and go do it.” The man thought for a moment, shook his head in silence, pronamed, and left. That is about all the news. Keep us in your prayers. Joy, Asha (and Karen) for Ananda-at-the-Convocation Next letter Top | Back to: Current events and news| Next letter | Home | Contact Us | Directory/Site Map Updated: November 26, 2001 www.YoganandaRediscovered.org/CE3ltr3.html