News from the Centre (December 2014)

Hello everyone,

December is here: a quiet time that is also full of celebration. Here at the Centre, the residential community is again very small, part of the cycle of life here. There’s still lots of work going on, but there is more opportunity for practice and inward focus.

There were several special events here in November. The Salt Spring Centre School held its annual Celebration of Light (aka Advent Celebration), begun more than 30 years ago, led by Usha who began this tradition and still leads us in songs of light.

The Dharma Sara Satsang Society also held a special event a couple of weeks ago, a visioning gathering for all DS members, called Dreaming our Future: Community Vision World Cafe. Om PK, Jeramiah and Saraswati led us in a wonderful day of sharing ideas and fun, with electronic connections for members who weren’t able to get here. If you would like to be more involved in events such as this, and in Dharma Sara in general, we invite you to apply for membership.

On the 19th of this month we will hold our annual winter vegetarian potluck and gift exchange game, known around here as the non-attachment game; you pick a gift, but don’t necessarily get to keep it. Although it’s mainly local satsang folks who take part, if you’d like to join us, please contact Sharada (sharada [at] saltspringcentre [dot] com).

Other events are ongoing – satsang, kirtan, Bhagavad Gita study, asana classes – and of course we continue to be nourished by delicious meals, including many ways to cook squash, which was particularly abundant this year.

Our Centre Community introduces Indira/Uma/Cynthia Bennett, a longtime student of Babaji’s who lived for many years on Salt Spring with her family. Cynthia contributed to the Centre and Centre School in many way over those years, and still comes to our Annual Community Yoga Retreat when she can.

Prathiba has sent us a sweet treat for the holiday season: Sweets Without Sugar, with wonderful recipes included. Enjoy!

At this time of year, as the days grow shorter and the nights are colder, I invite you into a calming inward journey in “Turning Inward.” In this spirit, here also are a couple of poems by Sudha Soleil.

With wishes for peace to all,
Love,
Sharada