Festival of Light with Fire & Purification Ceremony

Ananda services are nonsectarian. We invite you to join us in celebrating and sharing the universal truths taught by Paramhansa Yogananda and expressed by his direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda. Included in the Festival of Light service are many elements that uplift our consciousness and awaken our highest aspirations.The Festival of Light service includes chanting, meditation, prayers, music, readings from both the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, and an inspirational talk. The service concludes with the Festival of Light, a universal celebration of the path of inner communion with God and of the divine grace that has come to us in our age. The Festival of Light starts at 11:00am. If you wish to come earlier at 10:00am, please feel free to join us for the offerings below. Fire CEREMONY In this ceremony we repeat two Sanskrit mantras. Sanskrit is an ancient, vibrational language that is infused with spiritual power. The Gayatri Mantra is for enlightenment and the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra is for liberation. Ghee (clarified butter) and rice are offered into the fire during the chants as symbols of our pure aspiration to be transformed and of offering the seeds of karma to be burned up and purified in the flame of divine light. PURIFICATION CEREMONY You are invited to write down, on a small slip of paper, an aspiration or obstacle to your spiritual growth. These slips of paper are provided which have the words, “I seek purification by the grace of God”. Kneeling before one of the ministers (who act only on behalf of the masters), you may say those words and the minister will respond, “The Master says, ‘Open your heart to me and I will enter and take charge of your life.” Then the minister will pray silently with you and bless you by placing a finger over your heart chakra and will say to you, “By the grace of our Masters, you are free.” After the blessing you are invited to burn your slip of paper in an urn on the altar. With the burning of all the papers and we symbolically see the obstacles being transformed in the flame of Divine Consciousness.