All over the world there are groups of souls,
who even though they may have their inner struggles,
have said to themselves and to God,
"I want to forget your world
and I want to dedicate the rest of my life to finding reality or God."
When I first came on the path there was something Guruji said that sort of struck me.
He said it was inconceivable for him to give God a second place in his life.
And God is everything for us. And it's not like you can't do that out in the world,
but here the environment is so conducive, conducive, thank you.
It's hard to pick just one thing that I love about this life.
I think the main thing is that it's so focused.
Everything about every part of the day is all going in the same direction.
Everything's of God.
The postulant training lays a foundation for the monastic life.
Everything is very structured. There is a time for meditation,
for study, for introspection,
even physical exercises such as hatha yoga and so on. The idea is that
they carry that backbone of balanced routine when they move on to the larger community.
When the nun has been at the postulant ashram for approximately two years
she takes her first formal vow, which is the novice vow, and joins the larger community,
and that means she joins the rest of the nuns in serving Master's worldwide work.
So she's swept up into a lot more activity and service.
However, there is the novice program and novices live in a beautiful house.
They have a senior Brahmacharini living with them
and they still have their group study and meditations.
What they learned as a foundation at the Postulant ashram is simply carried over.
Counseling those who have just come from the postulant ashram
and are now in the novice program is an absolute joy
because I see how I felt as a postulant and then what it "Oh, yeah.
I had those challenges as a novice," but mostly it's just to be in their presence and to share this life.
I was very nervous inside to tell my Mom that I was entering the ashram
because I knew my decision was going to impact her tremendously.
And among many things I said to my Mom,
"Mom, I also want to live a fulfilling life and be happy."
But her answer was just heartbreaking because she said,
"I trust you and I am grateful because God has permitted me to enjoy you all this time."
But, yeah, I have been so blessed to see how Master has taken care of my parents
in so many miraculous ways. That's his promise
that he will take care of our family and in a way that is just overwhelming.
I have always appreciated that from the very beginning of our lives and throughout
each nun has a spiritual counselor. Your counselor is of great support in the ashram.
She's your friend. She's your confidant, your example.
She helps you to meet all the challenges that you face here in the ashram.
She gives you always understanding and compassion
and she wants the highest benefit for you.
In serving as a spiritual counselor, you're partly mother, partly friend,
but at the same time, you can't interfere too much
because Master is guiding them. And so you're just almost like a cheerleader.
You want them to get the most out of the life. You want them to be free within themselves
to respond to what Master is trying to do with them, the way he's trying to help them.
After Convocation I came here to the Mother Center and volunteered for a few weeks.
Spending time here with the nuns was the defining moment for me.
Experiencing their joyous everyday life of meditation and right activity,
seeing how they strived to live Master's ideals
of working together with love, harmony, kindness, and humility,
there was no turning back. I knew I had come home.
The defining moment for me to become a nun was when I felt that great calling from Master.
And this was a moment that I will never forget.
I had a beautiful large picture of Master, the Last Smile.
And I stood in front of the picture and at that moment,
for the first time, the thought came to my mind, "Become a nun."
And I was showered with such love and joy, which I have never felt before.
I was quite happy and satisfied with how my life was going before I entered the ashram.
I really wasn't thinking of the monastic life, per se,
but something changed when I started practicing Kriya
and really working on deepening my meditations and my relationship with God.
He started becoming more real to me,
and there came a point where I just knew I wanted to give my life to Him completely.
Before I entered the ashram I carefully restudied
the chapter, "Years in My Master's Hermitage," in 'Autobiography of a Yogi,'
and I thought I was signing up for a life of strict discipline and training
and I felt ready for it. I wanted to know God in this life, at all costs even if it meant suffering.
What I never expected was that it would be such a joy-filled and joyous life.
Every aspect of our life here is so conducive
to deepening our loving relationship with God.
We spend the days inwardly talking to Him, asking His guidance,
serving Him, loving Him and it's just so fulfilling for the soul.
(singing) Jai Guru, Jai Guru, Jai Guru, Jai.
Jai Guru, Jai Guru, Jai Guru, Jai.
Our spiritual sisters are such beautiful examples
that inspire us because of their God reminding qualities
and we support and strengthen each other on the path.
We are from 25 different countries.
We have different backgrounds
and we come from different walks of life.
This bond of sisterhood is so sincere and I truly feel Master's presence in each of my sisters.
We learn from our sisters, but what we bring forth more and more
is that divine uniqueness that God placed just in us.
The spiritual life is like swimming upstream. And so the monastic life
you're going up that stream, but rather than swimming on your own it's like you're in a boat.
You're all together and Master's at the helm and it's the spiritual effort
of each devotee that sort of rows that boat and keeps it going forward.
We share this deep divine love and friendship
that eases the challenges on this journey towards God.
The vibration of those great direct disciples and their example -
Sri Gyanamata, Daya Mataji, Mrinalini Mataji -
so their example really helps me, too.
In the ashram meditation and service just go hand in hand.
They complement one another so perfectly because in meditation
we dive deep into that presence of God within
and we gather all the love and joy and peace
of that communion with God and then when we serve
we have that opportunity to pour that out to others
and to give that to serving our Guru's work.
There are currently four different ashrams with the nuns residing.
I served at our Greenfield ashram in Front Royal, Virginia
Greenfield's magical. It's beautiful. The power of God in nature is overwhelming.
It's very alive. It's vibrant.
Recreation is an essential part of living a balanced life in the ashram
because it gives us vitality and health and relaxation for the body and the mind,
and that in turn helps our meditation and our service.
Master really encouraged the devotees directly and he liked to say sometimes
that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - or a dull girl in the sense.
And so he encouraged them to exercise regularly and to go out sometimes into nature
and into these uplifting places where devotees could enjoy
being in God's beauty and being together in that divine fellowship.
Even when we get busy I find it so much easier here to lead a balanced life.
Divine Mother,
Spread thy mantle of peace
Over all the earth
That the people and leaders of all nations
May learn to live together
In true peace and divine harmony.
Let us raise our hands and chant ohm for world peace.
Aum.
One of our deepest vocations is to pray deeply because it, as Guruji says,
it goes deep into the heart of the vibrations and
harmonizes on that deep level of thought and creates harmony, creates goodwill,
creates positive results in the world. So we may not necessarily see
what we're doing, but it is a powerful force.
We care about our members. When we're asked to pray we take that deeply.
Our members are part of us. It's Master's expanded worldwide family.
And it's very dear to our hearts.
When I was thinking about entering and going through the process of, you know,
talking with the nuns, one of my biggest concerns was "will they take me?"
You know, am I good enough for this life
and what I found was nobody expects perfection.
The only thing that's really important is that I was willing to change.
I always remember what Daya Ma said, "It's all about love. It's all about being in love with God
and if you have that, everything else will fall into place."
It was beautiful when I entered and it just continues to get more so.
Over the years it deepens.
There is no other life that can be so fulfilling, so meaningful, as a spiritual path.
One senior sister once told me when I was a postulant
she said, "This life. It has a joy that increases with the years."
And in my little experience I can say that this is true for me, too.
It's a joy that increases with the years.