Issue 6, 2019
Looking back over the year, I see that Yasodhara Ashram was full—full of progress, victories and challenges. In May with the help of consultants we looked at the Ashram as a business in the light of our past history, our future vision and our strengths and weaknesses. Together we clarified our core mission as teaching, we learned from other organizations through interviews and on-site visits, and we set our sights on succession.
As a community we understand our strong foundation in Swami Radha’s teachings and the gift of the beautiful Ashram land itself. Our 2019 stats confirm that we are furthering our mission with more people taking courses and retreats (including first-time guests), more karma yogis coming to learn and serve, and more drop-in guests and visiting retreat groups. At the same time, we are stretched with multi-tasking residents, some being elders whose time it is to step back. To maintain stability, we intentionally employed more staff than ever, which also tipped the financial scales.
In 2020 and the years ahead we will keep succession in mind as we experiment with inventive adaptations to encourage younger teachers to return to help teach and develop pathways to inspire karma yogis to make the Ashram home for longer periods.
Our theme for next year is
2020: Focus Inward, Focus Forward
. We invite all of you—the committed network of friends, students and colleagues— to engage with us in envisioning the Ashram’s future. What does the Ashram mean to you? How do you see yourself contributing? We look forward to your continued support.
Thank you for your generosity and care. Light and joy for the coming season!
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