The MA Center Pacific Northwest has a new home!
With Amma’s Grace, on Wednesday, July 29th, Dayamrita Swami held a Satsang
and performed a Pada Puja at the newest MA Center owned property (the
future home of the MACenter PNW). Approximately seventy people attended
the celebration which was followed by a dinner outside on the deck as
everyone basked in the sunshine.
The property has a pastoral and serene feel to it, with a sense of
seclusion from the surrounding neighbors. Two eagles were spotted in the
sky above the property a few hours before the start of the Puja. Many
people commented on how strongly they felt Amma’s presence at the new
property.
Earlier in the day, about twenty-five people from around the region,
including Canada,cheerfully gathered and worked to clean the property
inside and trim and weed the outside.
During the Satsang, Swami talked about a Center as a place to increase our
spiritual upliftment. He also discussed both the joys and responsibilities
of having a Center and how, as in every area of life, there will be
challenges in addition to happy moments. He said that this will be Amma’s
Center for the region and that She has Blessed us with this opportunity.
As far as the immediate future of the use of the property, there is still
much to be done to plan for the application for the Conditional Use
Permit.
The MA Center San Ramon legal team along with a team of local devotees will
continue working towards applying for and getting the proper use permits.
After which we will realize more of Amma's Blessings by becoming the newest
member of the MA Center family.
Currently, since the property does not have the necessary permits for use
as a center, we will not be able to hold satsangs at this location for some
time. We expect that a Land Use Planner can help us develop a clearer
timetable for the permitting process. Once that timeline is set, then we
will be in a better position to predict when we can use the property as our
regional Center.
Plans for the next three weekends:*
As those of you that have visited the property know, there is a
considerable overgrowth of weeds and grasses around the buildings that
needs to be trimmed.
*For the next three weekends in August, the Redmond Satsang members are
volunteering to host Open House/Seva Saturdays at the Maltby property
(August 8th, 15th and 22nd) from 10 AM to 1 PM, followed by Satsang at
Prakash, Kavita, Venkatesh and Meera's house in Redmond from 3 PM to 6 PM.
Everyone from the Pacific Northwest is invited to participate. There will
also be seva times on Sundays on those same weekends, from 10 AM to 12
Noon for anyone who wishes to participate.*
****We just received word that Dayamrita Swami will hold a program on
Sunday, August 16th. Swamiji will also return on Friday, September 4th for
an additional program. (Details about these programs will be announced
later).****
Those who are able to participate in this seva are requested to bring
gloves, sturdy shoes, and any yard tools that you can spare. If you know of
any way to permanently supply such tools for little or no cost, please let
Bob Freer know at bobfreer108@gmail.com. Also during those three weeks a
more formal listing of items needed and additional seva times will be
created. If you have any carpentry, plumbing or other constructing skills
and are licensed and bonded please let Bob know. It is never too soon to
start a list of qualified sevites from around the region.
Come and join in for as much of those scheduled times as you wish. Choose
from many selfless service opportunities for the day, such as yard work or
cleaning inside thehouse, or simply come to visit the new property.
*If you are able to come for some or all of those Seva days times please
kindly RSVP to Yasas at drenn108@gmail.com . If you
are from out of town and need a place to stay please also contact Yasas.* At
this time we are not able to have people stay overnight at this property,
so out-of-towners will be offered space in devotee’s homes.
Thanks and humble gratitude to all of you who have worked to make the
purchase of thisproperty (with Amma’s Blessings) a reality. Now let’s move
toward building a larger Amma community as we enter this next phase and
receive Amma’s continued Grace.
In Amma's Service,
Your Maltby property managing TeamBob Freer, Theresa and Brad Joss, Meera
Venkatesh, Eswar Cortelyou, Yasas Renn, Clara Jacob, Visala Hohlbein,
Satyasilan Nelson and Iswari Grace.