Happy New Year from Baba

Radiant Eternal Spirits,

The mood of celebration is all over the world. Let us all celebrate the advent of 2010, a year that brings with it the promise of fulfillment of our deepest intentions.

As we think so we become. Let us breathe peace and let peace permeate every cell of our bodies and then ripple over to the rest of creations.As co-creators let us all resolve to hurt none and heal all as moments are presented to us, gifts from the Universe.

True Happiness is to share with those who are less privileged than us, care for those who need our help, and inspire others in the path of Light and Love by our own example.

Happy New Year 2010, it sums up to number 3 which represents the Guru, the Divine Force that dispels darkness. May the Divine Positive Light dispel the darkness of all negativity and fear from the hearts of us all and usher in Joy that springs eternally, effortlessly from the very core of our Beings.

May peace and bliss permeate the world.

Love and Gratitude to you all for joining me in the path of Light and Love.
Baba

Baba Visits a Home for Seniors

On 27 November Baba visited a home for seniors at Salt Lake. He shared his love and wisdom of the sages with the inmates of an old age home called Asha Niketan, which means the Home of Hope. About 30 inmates gave Baba a warm welcome. Baba said “I have come to meet my mothers and am thankful to each one of you for sharing your presence.”

Then Baba explained that in the olden times, during the Vedic period, there was the system of four stages of life. It started with Brahmacharya, a period of 25 years, which was for the students of the Gurukul, the Home of the Master. They lived with the Master and learned all arts and sciences while strictly learning the art of Meditation and self control, through complete training of the mind.

When they completed that they were welcomed back into their family life and had to live the life of a householder for the next 25 years. This was the period when the person had to face the challenges of life and the tests of family life. All that they learned at the Home of the Master were put to acid test and that helped them to mature into deeper seekers of the Wisdom.

Then after completing 50 years, they were ready to go to the Third Ashram called Vana Prastha, or the forest life. At that time the householder had to give up every tie with the family and possessions, and retire into seclusion of the forests. For the next 25 years, they were supposed to be immersed in the contemplation of the Divine Reality, detached as they were from all that is worldly and attachments to the family and dear ones.

Finally at 75 they were ready for the final and the 4th Ashram called Sannyas, or State of equanimity. They lived a full 100 years as the most virtuous soul sharing the bliss of the Divine life.

Baba said "You have completed your family commitments, you have no more fetters of duties to your family, and now you are in the third stage of Vana Prastha. In olden times they would retire into seclusion, now you retire into a Home living with people of similar age and mental make up. Now is the time for you to detach your mind from all that is worldly and connected to your painful memories of the family life. It is your time to prepare your mind and soul for the 4th stage of Freedom from all bondage into a state of Divine Absorption.

Many of the senior women asked Baba "We are not able to forget the painful memories of the past; they haunt us all the time and cause all our sufferance, How do we get rid of them?”Baba said "First try to understand that the past is dead and gone, it will never come back to life. You keep it alive by feeding it with your energies. Once you know the cause you can start working from there. When ever the negative thoughts of the past come clogging your mind, wake up, and without any sense of condemnation just offer those thoughts into the Light of the Divine that you worship in your heart. Let each of the dark forces be offered to the Light so that they dissolve. You have to reverse your habitual pattern by cultivating a very Positive Attitude to everything that God has given you at this moment. Start counting your gifts, and always fill yourself with gratitude and love for all that is good with you. You only have to have the conviction that you can, and you will achieve it. Don't give up your efforts to wake up and become the worshipers of Light.

When Baba was about to leave, the old loving women came to take Baba's blessings, but Baba said, “I have come here to receive lots of blessings from my old mothers.” They were in tears, and said, "No one has come to us and showed us this path of light with such simple words and humility."

BABA VISITS STREET SCHOOL CHILDREN

The children of SwinHoe Street school perform “We shall overcome” the dance that steals the show. They were participating in Dance Competition hosted by another NGO in Calcutta.

Subhash is physically and mentally challenged. He joined Kalighat street school when he was a small boy, he has been with this school for last 14 years. He loves Baba and always wants to be comforted by his touch and hug. When he joined the school he could not talk nor could he walk properly, but the love and attention of the teachers and volunteers of the Mission and the Grace of Baba Lokenath (whose ardent devotee he is) transformed him and he started to talk and walk. Now he sings when the music class is on. DanceS when the dancing class is on session. Paints when the drawing teacher comes to teach them creative paintings.

Baba with Subhash and the street side where the Kalighat street school is located. The children look on compassion in action.

This is a very joyful girl from Kalighat Street school. The Kalighat street school draws its students from the families who live on the road side pavements and huts. They are very poor. Yet, look at the face of this girl performing a dance right on the road where the school sits with such joy and positive light on her face. The other children look on.

This is a sweet little angel from the Garcha Street school beaming with joy to receive new clothes and sweets from Baba on the eve of the festival of Durga Puja. Every year on the eve of this festive occasion, the Mission distributes new clothes to all the children of the Mission run street schools around the city of Calcutta.

Isn’t she so cute! They are deprived of most things that go to make one happy in life, yet they are the children who teach us one and all, that happiness is an attitude and it is the positive light of the Soul.

Another girl from Garcha street school and she has grown up with the Mission, for when she first joined the mission run school she was a small girl of 5 years. Baba gives her the gift of news clothes.

Namaskar with gratitude from a young student of Garcha school

BABA ASKS FOR PRAYERS AND MEDITATION FOR VILLAGERS SUFFERING FROM CYCLONE DEVASTATION

Women from Self Help Groups listen to Baba in February

Baba Asks for Prayers and Meditation

This past week a cyclone of unprecedented magnitude hit West Bengal and caused the most painful devastation. Millions of poorest of the poor villagers in the villages where Lokenath Divine Life Mission has served for last 20 years were affected. Every thing was washed out and even now hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, sheltered in the school buildings. Crops have been ruined and homes are under water or washed away.

LDLM is sending as much food materials and water as possible, to the affected places.
They are also supplying plastic sheets to make temporary make shift sheds under which people can take shelter till they are back to their own homes.

Even though the devastation is terrible, Baba says:

Yes, the peace will return, for nothing can stop the indomitable spirit of man to win and keep afloat against any adversities of life. Particularly these people of the Sunderban islands who, for years, have learned the hard way of life. Good days will come again for them, for God is good. How can He watch His loving children in pain for long??? That is my faith, faith in my Mother, for Her to have compassion for Her children.

I only wish you all intensify your prayers and meditation for the good of the world, more and more! Sarve bhavantu Sukhinah! (May all beings in this universe be happy). Om Shanti,

Love, gratitude, and blessings infinite Baba

YOU CAN HELP!

Contributions for the relief work and rebuilding of the villages can be made to Lokenath Divine Life Mission. Please make checks out to Lokenath Divine Life Mission and send all contributions to:

Lokenath Divine Life Mission

24 Kali Temple Road, Kolkata – 700026, India

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABA, Love, your children

Dear Baba, All the street school children of LDLM Wishes You A Very Happy Birthday!!Today I made a visit to Kalighat where all the street children came up dressed for the occasion Wishing their Baba A Very Happy Birthday! Food packets were distributed to the street childreni

from the Mission. From there I went to our Garcha center where they made an elaborate arrangement to Celebrate Baba's Birthday. They had purchased a Birthday Cake for Baba put up two candles.

Where we all sung Happy Birthday To You ! Happy Birthday Baba! They all offered the cake to Baba ... One child offered me a piece of cake with her own hands which I readily had. I prayed yes Baba is having your cake... Now I went to Swinhoe slums. There children came with Roses that they offered to their Dearest Baba and prayed to him. It was all joy and fun ! We all celebrated your Birthday knowing that your Blessings are always with us. We all love you. That's what the children had to convey to Baba. They have a complain why their Baba didn't come to visit them. to visit them. I told them He is with you all the time....Jai Baba Lokenath Babai

BABA'S VISIT TO HINGALGANJ ON 6TH FEB

Baba, along with the Mission's guest Ann Shannon, made his annual visit to Hingalganj for the festival celebrating LDLM and its work. The villagers were overjoyed to see their Baba. The Self Help Group (SHG) women met Baba and escorted him to Baba Lokenath's Temple, which they e constructed with the Mission's help. Baba served 4,500 people food prepared by SHG women with grains provided by the grain bank of Dulduli.

In the afternoon all SHG women came to meet Baba to discuss their achievements and the problems they are facing with their groups. The bank managers always give them trouble when withdrawing money from bank or a loan disbursement. Baba and LDLM Rural Program Director, Amalendu Haldar, presented details of a plan to Cluster SHGs in groups of 20. The bank manager will then have to deal with one very skilled committee that represents all SHG transactions and accounts. The committee will submit complaints to Bank officials if the bank managers obstruct the loan or banking process in any way.

Baba reminded the SHG women that the main target of the Mission is to make them economically independent and to believe in their own abilities. He assured them that Baba Lokenath's blessings are always with them in their endeavors to become self reliant, and that the network of support that they provide to each other is an irreplaceable, precious safety net.

The villagers and SHG members then felicitated Baba and Ann and other guests with flowers. Then the children from the families of SHG members presented songs, poems, dance-drama and highly advanced yoga and gymnastics program that thrilled the crowd. Baba addressed the villagers and stressed the importance of this human body, how we are blessed as human beings to have organs like eyes, nose, ears, brain and heart, which gives us so many different types of senses. "Express your gratitude to the Lord for all these blessings and create awareness through the gift of your Body," Baba said. The villagers treasured every word Baba spoke.

Flexible to the Core, Yoga for Village Children

Baba's visit to Hingalganj on 6th Feb,'2009 -- Baba, along with the Mission's guest Ann Shannon, made a visit to Hingalganj for the festival they put on celebrating LDLM and its work for Baba's annual visit. The yoga demonstration was part of the Celebration!

Flexible to the Core - Our yoga teacher Nimai Biswas showed us what we can do with our body through yoga. His students gave a spectacular show of yoga and gymnastics, including human pyramids, high wire feats with fire, and having 3 fully grown, strong men get inside a single, 1/3 meter steel circle . Ann just could not believe her eyes what she witnessed. She was busy snapping away with her camera. Everybody praised our yoga teacher for his work he is doing for the villagers through Lokenath Divine Life Mission.

Talented Young Painter and Former LDLM Preprimary Student Encouraged to Continued to Develop His Artistic Skills

A temple of Baba Lokenath was established by the SHG's in the Mission compound of Gosaba in the year 2000. This temple initially was a mud house with thatched roof. Gradually the SHG's, with Mission's help, made it a permanent structure of brick with asbestos roofing in the year 2008. On the day of celebration solar light was installed in the Mission which would help the students to study at night at the Mission compound. They celebrated Lokenath Milan Utsav '2009 (Uniting & Bonding festival '2009) on the Mission compound in Gosaba. Baba, accompanied by Ann Shannon participated in the celebration, which unites villagers of all creeds and castes.

Asgar Ali, a talented young painter and former LDLM preprimary student, had an exhibit of his work at the festival. Asgar had drawn a sketch of Baba which he showed and later presented to Baba. Baba was deeply touched by how Asgar had captured Baba's energy, and encouraged Asgar to continue developing his artistic skills.

Baba's Visit to Gosaba, Bijaynagar on 1st of February, 2009

Baba and our guest, Ann Shannon, were greeted in the Bali village by the Mission's project supervisors and Self Help Group women, as Baba landed from the boat to visit the Bengal Tiger Conservation Project compound. A huge crowd formed to welcome and escort Baba to the Mission's compound at Bijaynagar. The villagers celebrated every moment Baba was with them with broad, beaming smiles.

The SHG women prepared the food to be served to 8,000 villagers from the grains collected from their own, hard earned effort. This day is special, as all the nearby villages and villagers come to participate in what has become the favorite annual local festival. They are all served a meal. Baba served food with his own hands to the children and elderly.

In the evening, all the school children and students presented a wonderful, culturally rich program of poem recitals, elegant traditional dances, music, playful nature skits, and advanced yoga.

Ann Shannon, the guest of LDLM, was overwhelmed by the extraordinary program, all of the effort and planning it obviously required, and the immense talent of the performers. She was especially pleased to hear women's personal stories of the SHGs. The people of Gosaba were delighted to see their Baba and hear Baba's inspiring words, which they will carry to their heart for the next year. Baba spoke of the importance of lending a helping hand to one another other in leading and happy and prosperous life.

A New Life Given by Baba

An Indian family of four living in the Sunderban region, Gosaba Bally district, Vijaynagar village, was stricken by poverty. The family consisted of a brother named Koushik Bera, a sister named Bandita Bera, and their father and mother. Due to unfortunate reasons the mother fell seriously ill and was admitted to a local hospital. The family did not have money to pay for proper medication so it was not given to her. As a result she suffers from a chronic mental illness. The children’s father was a mason and used to come for work in Kolkata. While in Kolkata, he remarried and neglected his earlier family totally. He would not even send money to his family.
Brother Koushik was adopted by a school teacher and Bandita was left alone in the house. Stricken by poverty she was left with no option but to borrow from people in the name of her father. As the lenders came to know about it they realized they would never get their money back. They tried to molest little Bandita. Bandita somehow managed to flee from their grasp and fled home. Panic stricken, she would not come out of the house. She lay at home without food for fifteen days.
A local coordinator of Lokenath Divine Life Mission contacted Baba and informed him of the situation of little Bandita. Baba instantly asked the coordinator to take steps and rescue Bandita. The Mission took full responsibility for Bandita and shifted her to a safe place and arranged for her food and daily needs. She was admitted to school where she was studying in ninth standard. This year she has passed her 10th grade examination by the grace of God.
Now she has been admitted to 11th grade and she is happily staying in a student's hostel adjacent to the school. She gave a spectacular solo dance performance. Her dancing talent is immense, but she is also very bright and now has 4 tutors to foster her rapidly advancing academic life. Under the loving guidance of the SHG women and the Mission, she is flourishing as never before. Baba blessed her with all his heart as she grows into a perfectly healthy, accomplished young woman.

President of Lokenath Divine Life Fellowship Tours Sunderbans with Baba

Ann Shannon, President of Lokenath Divine Life Fellowship, a branch of Lokenath Divine Life Mission in the United States, was recently a guest of the Self Help Group (SHG) women in the Sunderbans and accompanied Baba on his annual visit.

While there Ann heard many true stories of how incredible the SHG are!

SHG Group Intervenes to Save Village

Family in Time of Health Crisis

When a Gosaba area village woman recently fell critically ill and required Rs. 30,000 for immediate hospitalization and treatment, the family was going to be forced to sell their land, their only means of survival. The local LDLM SHG called an emergency meeting to discuss whether they could lend the large sum of money to the family. The woman was not an SHG member, so this loan would be made outside of the SHG's rules. The group members had to wrestle with the very real question of what would happen if the family could not pay the money back, since that would threaten the very survival of the SHG and its ability to function. Binodini Mondal, the cashier of the SHG since 1997, and Anima Mondal, SHG President, and Sushma Mondal, the Group's Secretary, stepped forward to personally guarantee repayment of the huge sum over time if for any reason the loan was not repaid. The SHG voted to make the loan. The woman received the necessary treatment and is now safely home and well, with her family. Because of the SHG's generosity, the family had the time necessary to raise the funds from other sources. They repaid the loan in only 2 months.

"This is so moving," Ann Shannon said to Baba, "it demonstrates so profoundly the difference that SHGs are making at a human level, the power of their commitment to everyone in their village, and why SHG members are becoming such powerful, honored and respected leaders in their local areas. I cannot imagine a Westerner making this kind of financial commitment to help a neighbor. The power and importance of what SHGs are doing to create a sense of family in their villages is unfathomable."

Share Ann's joy, and help the women and children! If you are in the United States you can make a tax deductible donation to Lokenath Divine Life Fellowship on http://www.feelinghearts.org/.

To read more about Ann's profound and touching visit in the Sunderban's, visit Ann at

http://www.travelpod.com/, and search for globalgramma.

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Thank you from Baba and LDLM!

SARASWATI PUJA CELEBRATED AT THE STREET SCHOOLS ON JANUARY 31, 2009

Goddess Saraswati is the goddess of learning in Kolkata. All the street school students of Kalighat, Rashbehari, Swinhoe and Garcha schools are taught to pray to Goddess Saraswati and ask for her blessings so that they all grow up enriched with the power to constantly learn and evolve. Through learning and evolution they then have the tools to fight their poor economic condition and bring smiles in the faces of their parents.

Lokenath Divine Life Mission is committed to bring these street children into mainstream schooling and instill them with confidence in themselves. The Teachers constantly remind the children “Yes, we are with you! You can do it as every other normal child does!” The Mission believes that planting the seed of education in these children will enable them to overcome their miseries and make them bloom in times to come.

Sports held for all the Street Schools of Lokenath Divine Life Mission

17^th January ’09, Saturday was a day full of fun and joy for all the little children of our street schools . This day they all participated in a sports meet organized by Lokenath Divine Life Mission. Little students came well dressed raring to go on the field. The children were so happy they all came to Baba for his blessings. Baba was also full of ecstasy to see his little children bouncing with energy. The events were 100 mts run for the boys and the girls, biscuit race, skipping for girls, spoon and marble race, letter run and a 50 mts run for little children. In total 31 boys and 64 girls participated in the Sports. Each of them gave their best in the events. Baba distributed toffees to them. After successful completion of all the events the children had their lunch on the field. Then there was prize distribution, they were so proud to receive their prizes. Children were distributed little colorful hats which they wore and went to our Ashram and prayed to Baba Lokenath before leaving for their homes. Let Baba 's grace be on the blessed souls.