Guest guest Posted July 3, 2002 Report Share Posted July 3, 2002 Just wanted to say I just discovered this group that brings together fans of Yogi Bhajan and kundalini yoga. Wahe Guru! Isn't Internet something?! I became involved with 3HO about a year after it began in the U.S. (1970), then lived in ashrams in Baltimore and in New Mexico for the next 4 years. New Mexico's ashram in Espanola was pretty humble back then. I was initiated into the Khalsa and took the name Karam Kaur. I kind of "freaked out" some time after that...had no direction and was acting out problems that weren't getting resolved, and I left 3HO, returning to mainstream life. Just last fall, I visited the ashram in New Mexico for the first time in over 30 years. There were still folks there that I knew, including my best friend of my younger days, Dharam Kaur Khalsa. It was so wonderful to see the ashram and how it has grown, and to see people I knew. I was still getting treatment at the time for breast cancer, and so had to return home to finish treatment. Now I am well and 50% over the trauma of it all. I find myself wishing I never left New Mexico. I feel like I missed out on really becoming the "Grace of God" I could have been, and have floundered through my life (partially successfull) ever since. It was not for nothing that YogiJi gave me the name "Karam" which means action. I SHOULD have taken action, instead of deferring my life over and over. At 50 years of age, perhaps it is not too late. And the miracle of modern communications is having access to the words of so many others, reaching out to learn from each other and share their light. God bless you all on the path to a life of courage of truth. May Guru Ram Das, Guru Gobind Singh, Guru Nanak and all the celestial beings light our way. If anyone reading this lives in Maryland or Mid-Atlantic states, let me hear from you. I'd love to stay in touch. Who knows...maybe I will find my way back into the life of Karam Kaur, or to some extent, I hope. Jackie Sternberg 13101 Midway Avenue Rockville, Maryland 20851 (301) 468-3038 jackies52052 New! SBC Dial - 1st Month Free & unlimited access Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2002 Report Share Posted July 4, 2002 Dear Karam Kaur, >I became involved with 3HO about a year after it began in the U.S. (1970)At 50 years of age, perhaps it is not too late. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I would be great to hear other things from that time back then. It is never too late. Welcome home!! Yogi Bhajan told us we don't start over, we just keep going. You are on your path. Celebrate everyday. Sat Nam, Gururattan Kaur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2002 Report Share Posted July 4, 2002 Dear Gururattan Kaur, Sat Nam. Thank you so much for your response and encouragement. As someone who was thrust into the change of life quickly by the cancer treatment, I tend to think of myself as instantly old and beyond salvaging. Thanks for the reminder the journey is not over. Oh, I would love to tell stories of ashram life back then. One sweet little one: Yogi Bhajan's father, Dr. Kartar Singh Puri, known simply as PapaJi came to live with us at the Hacienda de La Guru Ram Das in Espanola, New Mexico. We became friends as I broke through his reserve, and for quite some time I was his designated "caretaker" in the ashram. I did his cooking, laundry (well, I did everyone's laundry for quite a while), went on long walks with him...we were close companions. He taught me to read Punjabi. I still have a prayer book of his, and an ancient reed "pen" he used...it really was just a reed. But the most fun we had was that, at night, he would get into bed and I'd sit on the floor by his bedside and read him Ann Landers' column from the newspaper. In this way, he learned more about American culture. It was quite our little ritual, and we both got a kick out of it...especially when Ann Landers answered questions about dating practices. I also was friends with Ed O'Brien, the irascible artist who painted the fantastic mural in the big meditation room in the ashram there. He lived in a little house of his own on the ashram grounds. At first, we didn't get along...I had also been assigned to cook for him, and he didn't like my cooking and got real mad at me. Of course, he didn't like any kind of cooking...he lived on coffee and cigarettes, which contributed to illness and a premature death. But then one day I played the piano in the meditation room while he was painting that wonderful mural, and the music melted his heart. I wasn't such a good pianist, but he was very sentimental. Thereafter, we became great friends. I would sneak to his house to have coffee with him (something not allowed in the ashram). At least I never smoked cigarettes with him! Ed died not long after I left the ashram in 1974. He had finished his mural and never really found something else that sustained and energized him so much. PapaJi died some years later, too, I heard. What I have learned in life, but a bit too late, is how wonderful it is to stay in touch with people. When I left the ashram, the curtain came down...somewhat because the ashram then was such a tight and exclusive community in many ways...when people left, they left. Oh, and we had a real farm there, too, with a cow and goats, guinea hens, an orchard and vegetable gardening, and we irrigated. I worked in the garden too, and milked goats before sadhana. It was wonderful. Another story: I had a terrible crush on a fellow there who was eventually married off to Gurmukh Kaur (kundalini yoga teacher to the stars in California!). I was so mired in my crush that I remember being pleased when this guy left Gurmukh in a rather humiliating fashion. But I've repented of my lack of grace and am happy that Gurmukh went on to achieve so many wonderful things. She obviously did not allow this incident to stop her from being totally the Grace of God. Enough stories for one night. You asked, and it warms my heart to remember and tell...in mainstream life, I have not recalled my ashram life too much. When I revisited the ashram for ONE DAY only back in October, on a Sunday, I participated in Gurdwara. It was so beautiful and authentic...the Sikh ways, use of Punjabi, surrounding artwork and artifacts...all showed an incredible maturing of the Sikh practice at the ashram. And that day, when I visited, one fellow performed a rousing song which a woman I lived there with had written and I remembered when she first performed the song, all about the 10 Sikh gurus. I saw children performing the celestial arm movements, which I didn't know about, and was charmed. When I was living there years ago, things were changing incredibly fast and it was difficult for people to go through so many changes...from street clothes to white, long hair down to up and into turbans. When I saw the ashram and how it had grown, and all the Khalsas listed in Espanola's tiny phone book, it was amazing to me. Gururattan, thank you again for making KY and teachings of Sikh Dharma so accessible. It is wonderful. Thank you again for your note and response to me. Blessings and Sat Nam. Kundaliniyoga, "Gururattan K.Khalsa" <rattanak@c...> wrote: > Dear Karam Kaur, > > >I became involved with 3HO about a year after it began in the U.S. (1970)At > 50 years of age, perhaps it is not too late. > > Thank you so much for sharing your story. I would be great to hear other > things from that time back then. > > It is never too late. Welcome home!! Yogi Bhajan told us we don't start > over, we just keep going. You are on your path. Celebrate everyday. > > Sat Nam, > > Gururattan Kaur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2002 Report Share Posted July 5, 2002 Dear Gururattan, I just wanted to tell you what a pleasure it was to finally meet you at Solstice this summer and also how much I appreciate your wisdom. It is very much a blessing that you participate in this list as you do. Sat Nam, Bob P S I enjoyed the stories very much too, Jackie. Please feel free to tell more of them. --- "Gururattan K.Khalsa" <rattanak wrote: > Dear Karam Kaur, > > >I became involved with 3HO about a year after it > began in the U.S. (1970)At > 50 years of age, perhaps it is not too late. > > Thank you so much for sharing your story. I would be > great to hear other > things from that time back then. > > It is never too late. Welcome home!! Yogi Bhajan > told us we don't start > over, we just keep going. You are on your path. > Celebrate everyday. > > Sat Nam, > > Gururattan Kaur > > Sign up for SBC Dial - First Month Free http://sbc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 5, 2002 Report Share Posted July 5, 2002 Dear Karam Kaur, For cancer, in addition, get on an alkaline diet and water with a high Ph. THis is how they treat cancer in Japan. I tend to think of myself as instantly old and beyond > salvaging. Your life is just changing and your are moving into a new phase. Could be fantastic. We learn our lessons in the first part of the life and if we really learn them then we get to enjoy the rest of our life. Not that we can't enjoy learning them, but I have noticed that learning one's life lessons is not always easy. I loved your stories. Maybe you could resurect some of this very special history. Get out Papa ji's pen! Sat Nam, Gururattan Kaur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2002 Report Share Posted July 8, 2002 Wow, life in an ashram sounds so divine and delicious... a dream! I would love to hear about the experience more, and from others too! Thanks for sharing, SAT NAM! elle ----Original Message Follows---- Jackie Sternberg <jackies52052 Kundaliniyoga kundaliniyoga Nice to be in touch Wed, 3 Jul 2002 18:36:30 -0700 (PDT) Just wanted to say I just discovered this group that brings together fans of Yogi Bhajan and kundalini yoga. Wahe Guru! Isn't Internet something?! I became involved with 3HO about a year after it began in the U.S. (1970), then lived in ashrams in Baltimore and in New Mexico for the next 4 years. New Mexico's ashram in Espanola was pretty humble back then. _______________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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