Founding Member Feature: Ramanand Chlopan
I grew up in a family of nine – my parents and six kids, 4 girls, two boys. I was third in the lineup. We were raised in a Roman Catholic family (although my father was Eastern Orthodox and had…
Sharada’s November Update
The water is rushing in the creek and the pond is very full. The deer are eating the last of the windfall pears that lie outside the farm fence – and occasionally managing to get into the garden; the farm…
Greetings from the New Centre Director, Paramita Meredith Knox
I feel so very honoured to be offered the position of Centre Director, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity. My connection to the Centre began shortly after I moved to Salt Spring Island…
Founding Member Feature: Shankar
Was there a spiritual side to your life before meeting Babaji? I was raised in England in an Irish Catholic family, and in my early teens began to immerse myself in various devotional practices of that tradition. However, after three…
How to Live from The Yellow Book, the sayings of Baba Hari Dass
When someone asked Babaji a question about the right way to live, he said, by lessening our demand, adding that demand increases desires and desires make demand, which creates dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction makes pain. I don’t say cut your demands altogether. There…
Sharada’s October update
The leaves are falling, the tomatoes and cucumbers are ripe and the sun is still shining – precious days before the rains set in. This season of change is upon us once again, part of an ongoing cycle. Change can…
Founding Member Feature: Chandra
I met Babaji in 1974, in the attic room of Spruce Street House in Vancouver where so many of us assembled. As soon as I entered the room and saw him I knew that life would never be the same…
There is No Doer – The Story of the Rock
Ramesh Balsekar An ordinary human being would not usually begin anything unless he has a motive, an end to fulfil, and the means with which to achieve that end. But for the jnani living his life spontaneously, having already lost…
Shankar’s September update
Greetings: The Centre rarely hosts weddings but this past weekend was an exception. In bright sunshine on the flower-strewn mound, we celebrated the marriage of Sean Crabtree and Melinda Quintero. Lakshmi’s son, Sean, who was born on Salt Spring Island,…
Defending the ego
The fundamental spiritual truth is that underneath the superficial differences, people are identical in nature – it is the same spirit or universal awareness that animates our seemingly distinct selves. Thinking that we are separate individuals is then a basic…