A Visit To My beloved Guru´s Residence in Maharlika

It was so nice to be back in Maharlika after such a long time … streets full of people smiling, laughing and talking in Tagalog… jeepneys racing against each other to see who can get more passengers… the sun shining at 28 – 30 degrees making me sweat after coming from cold Helsinki… vendors selling mangoes, cold buko juice and halo-halo with gulaman and boiled sweet corn… everything seem so familiar to me and brought me back some old and sweet memories of childhood.

I had a very special and Tantrik New Year celebration which I attended in our Marga Guru´s residence in Paranaque, Metro Manila. When I left Maharlika in 1986, the foundations of that building were only being built. It was so overwhelming to see it again after twenty years, fully built and beautifully landscaped by brother Vishnu, one of the margii pioneer in Manila and caretaker of Baba´s house. I was so impressed. I thought, “we do not even have one like this in Berlin Sector!”

Sister Malati guided me to Baba´s room and left to do other chores. I sat with my knees folded down. I looked at Baba´s slippers, and His other personal items and clothes which were hanging in that room in a sealed closet. I could feel Baba´s presence around there just like I used to when I used to go to His house in Tiljala or Lake Gardens in Calcutta. My tears rolled down and I wept silently in that sweet memory of Him. And then I did sadhana for some time.

Then at 10:00 a.m sharp, we started the 3 – hour Sadhana Shivir which was followed by lunch and a lunch break . By 16:00 – 19:00, we did Akhanda Kiirtan with vibrating tunes played and led by several margiis and acaryas followed by a group meditation. We had Tandava and Kaoshiki and then dinner with lots of delicious food and Maharlikan Christmas delicacies.

By 22:45 we did Avartha Kiirtan and Sadhana until 23:45. Whew! My day in Baba´s house was really fully packed with lots and lots of kiirtan and sadhana. Then we all rushed outside Baba´s residence, in a Basketball Court nearby and lit and fired the firecrackers to welcome the New Year. There were so much noise and explosions coming from all sides and not only from us Margiis. Some of our Margii teenagers were teasing and making fun of me and Dada by blowing their horns in our ears. It was fun! I was extremely happy to have been spent my New Year there with all the margiis and acaryas.

Then at 5:00 am, we did Pancajanya and the reading of the Vanii was done at around 7:00 a.m. Parampita BabaKi Jai!

Brahma Krpahi Kevalam!

Below are some of the photos of the children´s activities in Sunrise Playschool & kindergarten in November & December 2006.The cultivation of Aesthetic Science in early childhood education is a very important part of our curriculum in Ananda Marga.

Ananda Marga: Meditation and Yoga

...even the young ones can easily practice meditation and asanas.






"Spirituality is not a utopian ideal but a practical philosophy which can be practised and realized in day-to-day life, however mundane it be. Spirituality stands for evolution and elevation, and not for superstition in action or pessimism. All fissiparous tendencies and group or clan philosophies which tend to create the shackles of narrow-mindedness are in no way connected with spirituality and should be discouraged. That which leads to broadness of unison alone should be accepted. Spiritual philosophy does not recognize any distinctions and differentiations unnaturally made between one human being and another, and stands for universal fraternity." - Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, founder and guru of Ananda Marga