April Newsletter

This time was especially dedicated to the upcoming Hanuman Jayanti festival. There were a lot of tasks to be done: preparing the garden, sweeping the paths, setting up the tent and the Dhuni – the sacred fire pit – preparing the pujas, decorating and stringing malas – making the whole ashram beautiful and, of course, preparing the festive prasad in the ashram kitchen. A specialty for this festival are the Hanuman Vadai, traditional Indian lentil crisps.
It greatly inspired and uplifted us to be focused on making everything beautiful for the celebrations, preparing everything together with love.

More people than ever before came to the festively decorated Baba Mandir; from Germany, England, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, including many Indian devotees living in Europe. Some had been here many times already, others came for the first time. Some simply wanted to pay their respects to Hanuman on this auspicious day; many stayed the whole night.

Already upon entering the Kirtan hall, the air was filled with joy – the joy of singing praises to Lord Hanuman in Ma’s presence throughout the night. We began the celebrations with the grand Aarti. Everyone had the opportunity to stand before Lord Hanuman and offer the light to Him – thus also honoring Him in their own hearts.

The conches announced Ma’s arrival. “Let’s sing to Hanuman!” she called out to us, whereupon the sound of the first Hanuman Chalisa arose. Like waves, the singing flooded the entire Mandir the whole night through.

As the 108th Hanuman Chalisa faded towards morning, it became very still in this large group of people who had sung together from their hearts for over nine hours. Ma folded her hands and, upon leaving the Kirtan hall, turned to everyone once more with the words: “That was pretty good!”

This short video was created during the night of Hanuman Jayanti. Rabboo Joshi, who gifted the Ashram the large Murti of Lord Hanuman on behalf of some devotees from India and the UK and who visited the ashram in 2023, shared the video with the following message that touched all our hearts:

Chela came together from near and far to be in the ashram over the Easter weekend. During the darshan, many things were discussed that determine our lives and prevent us from living a full life. Among other things, Ma spoke about a deep sense of unworthiness that all human beings carry within themselves and that needs to be recognised on the spiritual path in order to leave it behind. This feeling of unworthiness arises from the state of separation in which we live, the separation from the highest, divine consciousness.

Ma speaks: Everything we long for is already here; nothing more will be added. Therefore, it is pointless to hope that something will happen in the future that is better than the present. 

In Bhakti Yoga, we let go of all ideas and concepts that prevent us from recognizing the fullness of life in all its splendor – here and now – carried by the unconditional love of the Master.

From the book ‘Orbital’, Ma read us a moving passage in which a cosmonaut describes the view of our Earth from space and the feelings she has when looking at these images: The Earth in its incredible beauty, as a vulnerable and precious being without boundaries. But at second glance, the immense destruction that we humans cause through our greed, our desire for more and more, becomes apparent. Only through spiritual, inner fulfilment will this desire to have more and more come to an end. 

In conversations about the darshan with Ma and about our path, our perception of time often changed – the hours and days flowed like a wide river, and we simply immersed ourselves in it.

On Easter Monday, we sat down at the dhuni, where the sacred fire was  burning brightly. For a long time we remained in the deep silence of Ma’s presence before each of us received a sip of cool, fresh Easter water from her into our own hands. We listened to her words, in which she bestowed her blessings on all who had come:
May it renew you inwardly like water falling on parched ground, so that you may blossom and flourish within!

Vesak - May 16, 2025
On her own path as a spiritual disciple, Ma met Sri Satya Narayan Goenka and learned Buddhist Vipassana meditation from him. Thus, every year at the Ashram, we celebrate Vesak, the most important festival in Buddhism – in honor of Gautama Buddha, his birth, and his enlightenment. In the Kirtan hall, the large room in the center of the Baba Mandir, we sing Buddhist Mantras and create a flower mandala.

Bhakti Weekends
On the following two weekends in May, Ma will give Darshan in the Baba Mandir: May 9th to 11th and May 30th to June 1st.

Seva Weekend – May 23rd to 25th

You can register for all events via the Ashram’s schedule list: