when I think of you…

All I can think of these days is you walking, your sudden joyous sprints, your determined getaways, your sweet shuffle holding on to me, your limitless delight of flower, branch, leaf, raven, sky. Walks where you would work out the content of your mind, walks in silence, walks in whispers and the sound of our feet in the forest.

'Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.' Always ready for the next step. Insisting movement, radical motion.

And our moonlit walks, when time, place and relationship bewilder. I would forget mother and I would forget swami… you danced under the moon, so in love with this place.

Missing you, my full moon lady. Thank you for meeting me in birth, and letting me hold onto your heart in death. Thank you for walking beside me through this life.

In Gratitude

Swami Radhananda inspired, enlightened and challenged me in so many ways. She didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear but what I needed to know. Her wisdom shattered many of my old, fossilized, hidden concepts and beliefs. Her commitment, dedication, courage and love for Swami Radha touches me deeply each time I read Carried by a Promise. In Living the Practice, she has such an easy way to invite me in, to share her wisdom, insights, understanding and love for the Divine. She convinces me again and again that I too can do this, that I too am a being of Light. Spirit. Energy. Om Radhananda! You live on in my heart.

Swami Radhananda

Swami Radhananda touched my heart and life deeply as a friend and teacher. One example of her teaching skill is from a Kundalini and Dream course. Asked to reflect on: What is behind your urge to keep talking, I shared my response. Swami Radhananda asked what I could have done differently. I offered many ideas, she nodded and listened. A year later, at my bookstore desk during the same course, the insight came clearly: I could have accepted the situation instead of trying to control it. Had she offered that suggestion a year earlier, the impactful insight would have been weak or absent. Another example is how when I told her of some accomplishment, she would ask, “And how did you do that?” This encouraged me to identify what approaches brought about the desired result. She led me to see that the significant learning was not the achievement, but how it was achieved. Her presence as a friend and teacher remains alive in my life through such teachings, her kindness and love in showing how to reach my potential.

tribute to Swami Radhananda

I think Swami Radhananda's step into the leadership of the ashram was very challenging and I admired her courage to do so with the initiative to make changes and open new doors for all of us. A couple of years ago, I watched some videos of her teaching workshops through the years and saw how the teachings opened up. When I saw her I thanked her and both our hearts were warmed.