December 29, 2020
Dearest friends and family,
(So sorry about the small text! I can’t see how to increase it.)
What a year of highs and lows! One of the most hopeful messages about the pandemic that has swept the globe came from a YouTube site called Tomfoolery. Tom created a poem video as a children’s bedtime story, from the viewpoint of the virus being a thing of the past and showing how it gave us all a great realisation (British spelling). He closed with these words, “Hindsight’s 20/20.” There is now a book called “The Great Realisation” published by Harpers Collins.
I’m so grateful to share about the wonderful protector in my life: my dear son Jacob. He has moved to San Diego for a great new job after being furloughed from his Atlanta company that was shattered by the survival difficulties of small businesses. Kabbage made loans to small businesses. So, he is living with me and has very good hygiene skills. He washes his hands, wears a mask, and does small group gatherings outside with masks on. He was already doing this in Georgia to keep himself safe. But I consider him my hero to experience his sweet consideration extending to me here.
And I want to protect Jacob as well. He is doing a good recovery from a back injury, but coughing could set that back. I’ve kept up the same practices Jacob does. But after the surge, with much move COVID present in the environment, a scientist said that “whatever you did to be safe in October will not be sufficient now.” So, I’ve added gloves plus a shield over my mask (primarily to protect my eyes from the virus). And, I just remembered one other step we took in India. We used a spray that has been proven by Doterra to kill COVID on contact. It is made up of wood alcohol, purified water, 10 drops of “Onguard” and 5 drops of Oregano essential oils. That can be sprayed directly on the mask, lightly. It is rather potent, but even breathing it is protective of the immune system. Whipping up that spray mix is now on my “to do” list.
Getting back to “hindsight is 20/20.” I love to write and introspect. Now I have the opportunity to practice hindsight, and share my story, thoughts, feelings and insights with any of you who are interested. I’ve kept channels of communication open with as many of you as I could, because I think this is what makes our nation and our families great—the ability to not just speak freely, but to listen and respond freely. It helps so much to listen to one another. And I am happy to listen to you, to learn what is important to you during these times of great soul-searching and concern.
Clearly, I do not believe in the old adage to not discuss religion or politics with relatives. I think that following that may have created a nation of people living in silos, only talking freely with those they agree with. I’m concerned it has weakened us. As Lincoln said, “United we stand, divided we fall.” However, for those who want to keep politics and family separate, I respect your wishes. So, that part of the letter will require clicking on a link. If you choose to read it, please link here, and please feel free to respond by text or call me at 619 322-3666, or email at danaterrell.lcsw@gmail.com
Two people who received my passionate 2019 holiday letter requested to not receive anything similar in the future. This is the way I am respecting their wishes, by offering choices.
My primary 2020 focus began by preparing for the wonderful pilgrimage to India from mid-February to mid-March. At least 7 friends who had been there provided me in advance with a list of recommendations on how to stay healthy. They themselves had gotten very sick there, or knew that was a common possibility. I paid close attention to the lists, feeling that God was protecting me. And I shared many ideas with our travel group to protect them, even before the news of COVID reached us. After the news, we got masks to wear in airplanes and airports and other crowded places in Asia. The day before our departure, our leader Mayo spoke with Anita Verma at our temple. She shared the tip that had made such a difference for her elder parents.
And I now use it in America to help stay healthy when going into any crowded location (along with wearing a mask and social distancing).
THE TIP: Anita is a member of our church, as is her multigenerational Indian family. She is a dentist. Anita’s Indian family has deep roots in India, and her parents still own a home there. Every year the family traveled to renew connections with relatives. And every year, her parents got sick going through the airports and airplanes along the way. Finally, Anita decided to put her biology knowledge to work. She reasoned: “Viruses enter the body through the nasal passages primarily. I had a good experience with nose bleeds in elementary school. My school nurse told me that if I would swab my nostrils with Vaseline every day, I’d stop having nosebleeds. It worked!”
Anita continued: “So, I proposed that the family try this solution to protect against viruses. It worked for us all. My parents never got sick again during the travel to and from India!”
She shared this with us just a month after the word of COVID had reached the US. We were all concerned about going to Asia and coming in close spaces with Chinese travelers, potentially carrying the virus with them.
So, Anita’s solution plus many other tips kept our group super healthy in India. Since Vaseline in the nose didn’t appeal to me (it’s a petroleum product), we used natural oils such as coconut or ashwagandha. It was based on the same concept, but seemed even healthier.
Our India pilgrimage was a great joy. We had a harmonious group of 5 who were joined by our Indian tour companion, Rachit, from time to time. We 3 ladies, Kathleen, Ana Rosa and myself, called one another our mother/sister/friend. It was that sweet! And Mayo, his brother Tony and Rachit kept us well-protected, entertained, and guided to wonderful sites of devotion throughout our trip.
We attended the beautiful ashrams in Dakshineswar and Ranchi before the proactive shutdown decision by our President Brother Chidananda affected the YSS temples and ashrams. [Our President has been extremely protective of our membership and the monastic disciples. However, we have the blessing of at least 5 online group meditations and/or scripture studies offered daily for members and friends around the world.] Dakshineswar is right on the Ganges, not far from the ocean. “Mother Ganga” is massive there, nearly a mile wide. Divine Mother blessed me with beautiful assurances of her great loving presence in Dakshineswar and while meditating with my feet in the Ganga, at the north end of Rishikesh, facing nature rather than city.
Ranchi is not on the Ganges, but it is an enormous property, beautiful with trees and landscaping, ponds, temple, the Smriti Mandir in honor of our Guru, and an ample retreat facility for visitors as well as many administration buildings and monastic quarters. It is a quieter city than Kolkata, for which I was grateful. Kolkata has car honking all day and night! That was a challenge after 24 hours of travel! So Ranchi was a welcome and peaceful four-day retreat.
Next we enjoyed Bodh Gaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment. We stayed at the Buddha Guest House, hosted by a joyous, kind Kiranji Llama. Kiranji had a unique background. He is Tibetan, but escaped Tibet early in life. He was raised Buddhist, yet was close friends with Mother Teresa who hugged him all the time and taught him the Rosary, which he says to this day. In 2000 he was introduced to Paramahansa Yogananda and got Kriya in 2005. He says, “Master (PY) is my Buddha, my Christ, my everything.” Therefore, at the Bodh Gaya interfaith council, he can play the role of any religion missing representatives from his 3 religious backgrounds!
We also visited the site where Buddha preached his first sermon, at the Deep Park at Sarnath. There he introduced his audience to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
We didn’t realize how blessed we were to make it to the Taj Mahal. It was closed to the public due to COVID that day after we left. And 5 days after our plane left India, all travel was ended in India. The airplanes, trains, buses and taxis did not run. It was a complete shut down.
However, to my knowledge there were only 200 recorded cases in all of India while we were there. So, using our nasal oil and masks every time we were in a public place, airport or airplane, we felt very safe and unconcerned. When we returned to the USA, there were over 400 cases in San Diego County alone. By now the sad count in our county is almost 42,000. Of course, it is very bad in India now, too.
Back to the earlier days of 2020, our pilgrimage continues between February and March: We were thrilled to enjoy Rishikesh on the Ganga, a place overflowing with yoga schools and ashrams, including the Beatles Ashram, which is still present and fairly well maintained. A room there has wonderful photos of the Beatles and their guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. George Harrison later became a devotee of Yogananda, and came to the Mother Center in Los Angeles to meet with our past president, Sri Daya Mata. She was very impressed with his gentle, kind character.
Next stop was the large and beautiful city of Lucknow, home of the special needs school owned by Mayo’s dear friends, Naval Pant and Ranu Uniyal, parents of a special needs son Mukunda. Mayo traveled there annually for about 8 years to volunteer his time as a special need teacher, to train the special needs teachers at the Paramahansa Yogananda Society for Special Unfolding and Moulding, or PYSSUM. One purpose of Mayo’s non-profit tour group, Shivakti, is to help support the school, which is funded solely by donations. Apparently, the Indian government doesn’t provide special ed schools as our school systems does. Thus, we each donated $1000 to the school. Mayo will be offering his wonderful pilgrimage tours when the pandemic is over. They are well-planned and thoughtfully conducted. And the cost is far below any other profit-making tour I could find. They can be accessed through www.shivakti.org.
At PYSSUM we were welcomed immediately to the children’s one-hour morning meditation, made up of many Hindi and English chants, and about 5 minutes at the end of calm silent communion with the Divine. How inspiring and touching to see all the children cross-legged on the floor engaged, and rimmed by their teachers sitting behind them!
Afterwards, the children entertained us with a play in celebration of the Holi holiday of colors. They did not toss powdered colors afterwards, as is traditional. But instead had bushels of marigold petals to shower upon the children. The joy of this dance was irresistible. I joined in and many other adults did as well. We learned this was only the first day of Holi, a 5-day national holiday. On the 5th day, we were at Babaji’s cave. The nation was fully stopped that day, but as we drove through villages, we could see happy people wandering around with colors on their faces. We had been “Pre-painted” in Raniket by our sweet hotel staff. This is not a wild shower of color as I saw in an Indian movie. This is a loving method of sharing delight. It felt divine! No matter it is called “Holi!”
Due to the shutdown, we could not stay at the Dwarahut ashram near Babaji’s cave, but we did make our pilgrimage to the cave where an auspicious initiation occurred (as described in “Autobiography of a Yogi”). Babaji revived the lost method of God realization, Kriya Yoga, by giving it to Lahiri Mahasaya in that cave.
Recently I’ve been feeling energy for writing again. I wrote my first book to help motivated people get clear about their principles and embrace the practice of them in the context of their important relationships.
I now feel freed up, to write a second book. At this point the title may be “A Vast Love Story – Hope for All Our Relationships.” Each chapter will focus on a particular relationship, beginning with the relationship with yourself, your friends, committed marriage, and so on until we reach the conclusion: Your relationship with God. I will even address your relationship with addictions and money. This is a book that I would hope everyone could study in high school to prevent a tremendous amount of difficulties. But it will be useful at any age, so no one is excluded. It is a joy to be writing this, and especially to have some free mental and heart energy for the task! It’s been on my “to-do” list for a long time. Thank you, God, for freeing me for this joyous duty.
As you can see, this has been a big year of growing connection and support, great spirituality and great democracy. I wish you the peace that this pandemic can bring into our lives, and the opportunity for growth to move in new directions that may have been overlooked during our previously busy and “normal” lives.
The earth is doing much better. Air and water quality have increased so much in India that people can see the Himalaya mountains again, and the Ganga is becoming healthy!
Who knows what we will choose to include and what we will choose to not reintroduce, into our lives once this pandemic draws to a close.
I pray that we will work together, protect one another, and save more of our fellow Americans from preventable grief. I’m sure we all pray for the health care workers who are bearing the greatest brunt. I have been privileged this year to work with them in EMDR therapy, and to witness what they have experienced through their eyes and hearts. It has been horrific for them.
For anyone who is struggling with fear or anxiety, there is a wonderful EMDR protocol designed specifically for COVID. In one or two sessions it helps people get quickly into a balanced and realistic state, not lackadaisical and not panicking. A good midpoint is conscious caution.
May you all be blessed with conscious caution, good health, a vigorous democracy, and above all, feel the protections of God’s peace, joy and the divine love of Christ Consciousness.
Dana
