Gururaj Ananda Yogi
How to Meditate with Gururaj
"By making yourself a better person, you also make the society you live in a better society, because it is the units that compose a society, not the society that composes the units."
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Path of Unfoldment cover
The Path of Unfoldment eBOOK Now Available!

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AMS Newsletter 
Volume 33, May 2013
Dear Meditators,   sunflower
 

We have lots of good information for you below and new things you can take advantage of.  Make sure to visit the bookstore and download your copy of Path of Unfoldment directly onto your ipad or tablet.   Make sure to register for the summer course and watch for upcoming email news of how to watch Satsangs live from Spain in May.  

 

There is a group of us going to Madrid to attend the Spanish Meditation Society's course honoring the 25th year of Gururaj's passing.  You can join us by watching the streamed satsangs.  

 

We are excited to tell you that our 9 month live online teacher training course is running smoothly and effectively, thanks to Kenton Yeager and the commitment and dedication of all the participants.   

 

Love and namaste, Vidya 

 Upcoming Retreats

National Summer Retreat 

July 12 - 17, 2013 
Eureka, MO
 
New York Fall Retreat
October 11-13, 2013

Sloatsburg, NY  

 

Knoxville Fall Retreat 

October 25 - 27, 2013 
Knoxville, TN

International Retreats 
 
Spanish Meditation Society Retreat 
May 15 - 19, 2013 
Madrid, Spain
Contact: raman@ifsu.org
 
LIVE STREAMING:   Join us in Spain at the course that will take place to honor the 25th year of Gururaj's passing.  Please watch for an email that will be sent from our newsletter and weekly reflection emails to bring you more information about times of chant/meditations and satsangs.  You will connect to this page:  
  
Canadian Meditation Society Annual Retreat 
August 17 - 23, 2013 
Victoria, BC, Canada 
Contact: rpbowers@gmail.com
Retreat Comments

kittens forming heart Some post-retreat comments from those who attended Poconos Retreat:    

A week later and I'm still smiling
- Harry Stahl
 
  
Marvelous weekend - Marcia Wilgermein

A surprisingly emotional experience for me - Ron 

 

I was very touched by the emotions and the genuine warmth running through the weekend.  I felt generally embraced and accepted by all.  -- Nadine 

A powerful atmosphere grew from the fact that we all had the same goal, same experiences.  I really appreciated the depth that we generated. -- Maurice 

I liked the way we stayed focused and yet could come and go when we needed a break.   -- Sharon 

It was a time I could make new friends and I liked that. My joy continues even now.   -- Abbe 

I felt connected, protected, nurtured.  And I was very present.  Forgot all about home.  -- Andrea 

Good just to be there and hang out with the energy and focus on that.   -- Courtney 

Loved the longer chants.  I really got into it deeply.  Still feel a fine glow.  -- Sandra 

I liked the idea of starting with silence.  I was inspired by the young people there.  And I liked the way Vidya and Merrill worked together.  -- John 

The spring course was as renewing and revitalizing as I could have hoped for. There is something so powerful about sitting in a room with people whom you've known for years and some you've known for mere minutes all breathing and chanting and simply being together. The silence was inspiring. The music, laughter, and satsangs were gorgeous. As I drove the many miles back home, I drove with the shakti of my meditating brothers and sisters brushing against my shoulders, tickling the nape of my neck, keeping my cheeks nice and rosy in the spring sunshine. I am thankful everyday for being introduced to the American Medication Society and Gururaj, and I cannot wait to meet everyone again in St. Louis in July!  - Kim 
New to Bookstore!
PATH OF UNFOLDMENT 
Ebook Now Available
The Path of Unfoldment - cover
Many, many thanks to Harry Stahl and to his wife Maria for formatting the Path of Unfoldment.  It is now available for you to download from our website:
 
 
You can easily put it on your ipad or tablet.  It looks great in this format and is fun to read.   If you tap and hold on a word like gurushakti for example, an option will come up for you to search on the word.   Tap on search and it will bring up every page where gurushakti is mentioned.    We like this function and look forward to bringing you more teachings in electronic format.   Suggestions, requests, would you like to help?  
 
Maybe you have not read this book for several years... give it a try.  It is guaranteed to speak to you differently than when you read it last time.  
Satsang Excerpt from Gururaj 
Loving Yourself and Getting Rid of Guilt

QUESTION:  How can we love ourselves more, and how can we help other people to love themselves more?

 

GURURAJ:  You start with loving yourself.  The greatest trouble in this world is people hating themselves.  Why do they hate themselves?  Because they can't face themselves.  They are so guilt-ridden by all the actions that they have performed in this lifetime.  Thank God that they don't remember the actions of their previous lifetimes or else they'd rather go through burning hell.  So, they are so guilt-ridden of the actions of this little lifetime, that they start hating themselves.  

 

Now, instead of being guilt-ridden, one has to get rid of guilt.  And that is done through proper understanding and spiritual practices where you take away the darkness by switching on the light.  And no one needs to feel guilty about one's actions at all.  You do not need to feel guilty about it.  It is the past.  And if you make up your mind that, "I will not perform those actions again which are detrimental to myself and to others," then that in itself is repentance.  It's a firm resolve that you take, then the guilt will go away.  And as the guilt goes away you will start loving yourself more and more.  You will start looking at the positive side of your life.  That will make you love yourself more and more.  And when you do that it boomerangs, it gets extended to others, and that's how you love others more and more.  

 

It is a simple procedure: "did I do something wrong?", and if I find that I have done something wrong, perhaps during an impulsive moment, then I wake up. I will improve upon it.  I make the resolve then and there,  "no, sorry, no more."  That's repentance.  And that would make you love yourself and get rid of guilt.  And then you also accept the responsibility for the reaction of the action.  Come what may, so what.  But, if you have made up your mind, if you have resolved to yourself that I shall not perform this action again, then the reaction begins to become so much easier and acceptable because you are not tied down on the one side by guilt.  You are free, free to accept the responsibility.  Because the one that's in bondage cannot accept responsibility as easily as the one who is free.  That's how it works.  (US 80-19)