“Be like a rose, wafting to all the sweet fragrance of soul goodness.

Make everyone feel that you are a friend, that you are a helper.”

Paramahansa Yogananda

Please check our website for up-to-date information

regarding weather related closures for Portland Center.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

Saturday, 2/1 SRF Convocation Hotel Reservations become available


Sunday, 2/2 Video with Brother Prafullananda: "Life's Challenges –

Opportunities for Spiritual Progress"


Sunday, 2/16 Video with Sister Draupadi: "Being a Spiritual Seeker in

Today's Complex World"


Sunday, 3/2 Video with Brother Anilananda: "The Guru – Guide to

Eternal Freedom"


Friday, 3/7 Paramahansa Yogananda Mahasamadhi Service


Sunday, 3/9 Mahasamadhi Commemorative Service for

Swami Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda


Note: Sunday School will meet this day (March 9) instead of March 2, the usual first Sunday


Sunday, 3/16 Video with Brother Sevananda: "Seeing God in All People

and All Conditions"


Saturday, 4/12 Day of Service: Center clean-up to prepare for the monks' visit. Please mark your calendar!


Thursday, 4/17 through Monday, 4/21 SRF monks visit Portland Center


More details about Convocation, Mahasamadhi services,

and the April monastic visit follow below.


A complete calendar of events is available on our website.



*****

Mahasamadhi Commemoratives



Every March, devotees of Self-Realization Fellowship pay homage to our Guru Paramahansa Yogananda and to his guru – our Paramguru, Swami Sri Yukteswar, as we observe the mahasamadhi of these great masters.

Portland Center will offer two special commemorative services:


  • For Paramahansa Yogananda, an evening service on Friday, March 7 from 8 to 9:00 p.m. will be preceded by an optional meditation beginning at 7:00.


  • The 11:00 a.m. service on Sunday March 9 will also be a commemorative, dedicated to both Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda, allowing those who cannot attend on March 7 to also honor our Guru.


For Master's service on March 7, please bring the traditional offering of a flower (or flowers) symbolizing devotion to the Guru. The flower offering is optional for the March 9 combined service, as rose petals will be provided.


As with all special services, offering a monetary donation during the ceremony is an expression of loyalty and gratitude for the master being honored, in recognition of the spiritual riches they have given us through the SRF path.

We Value Your Participation

Subscribers to this newsletter will soon receive an invitation to complete a brief survey, asking for your thoughts about several topics. You will have the opportunity to give input about issues such as our Center's location and your preference for scheduling commemorative services.


If you regularly attend our Center, we very much encourage you to register as a voting member. This enables you to participate in important decisions, such as approving major undertakings or expenditures. You can find information about eligibility and a registration form on our website.


Thank you for your support of the Portland Center!

Monastic Visit in April


Mark your calendar for a special visit by Self-Realization Fellowship monks Brother Devananda and Brahmachari Ian! They will be with us from Thursday, April 17 through Monday April 21. This includes Easter Sunday. We will share more details as they become available in the next months.

Call for Volunteers!


Those who serve in SRF meditation centers or groups find that volunteering is a gratifying way of connecting more of their life and activity with the search for God, while also developing a stronger bond with our Guru and his spiritual family.

 

If you are not currently serving as a volunteer, consider giving it a try. Not only will our Center benefit from your service, but you will be surprised at how much you will benefit, too!


To explore a service opportunity suited to your interests and schedule, please click on this link or stop by the Newcomers Table any Sunday after the 11:00 service. You may also contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Kaya Stasch at kstasch@sbcglobal.net.


An upcoming chance to serve will be the next Day of Service on Saturday April 12, as we spruce up our Center for the visiting monks. Make a note of the date, and watch for more information in our April-May e-newsletter.

Portland Center Members Enhance the Neighborhood

On the January 20 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, a group of Portland Center devotees joined parents and children at the neighboring Vestal Elementary School campus for their Community Care Day, sponsored by the school's Parent Teacher Association. The volunteers worked briskly together in the clear weather, cleaning up litter and removing berry brambles. Several parents expressed appreciation for our support — and more opportunities will be available through spring and summer for those who want to participate in this rewarding effort. 


Many thanks to the volunteers whose contributions

helped to brighten our neighborhood!

Holiday Highlights: Christmas and Master's Birthday

Portland Center devotees gathered for the annual All-Day Christmas meditation in our beautifully decorated chapel, and on the following day enjoyed a potluck after the Sunday service. We are grateful for all the volunteers who contributed toward making this season one of the highlights of the year.

We joyously celebrated Paramahansa Yogananda's birthday on January 5 with a special service. The Sunday School children then led us in singing "Happy Birthday" to our Guru, followed by enjoying birthday cake together.

SRF Worldwide Convocation, June 22 - 28

Brother Chidananda, President and Spiritual Head of

Self-Realization Fellowship/Yogoda Satsanga Society of India,

addresses Convocation attendees

SRF is pleased to announce that the annual Worldwide Convocation will once again be held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, beginning Sunday, June 22 and ending on Saturday, June 28. You are warmly invited to join the SRF international spiritual family for this week of monastic led classes and talks, powerful group meditations, and pilgrimages to places made sacred by the presence of our Guru. More information is available here on SRF's website.


The events will also be available online for those unable to attend in person.

News from Managing Council

Greetings, Portland Center members and friends!

We head into 2025 following another year of increased attendance at Portland Center’s Sunday services. Sunday School is back once a month, and recorded talks by SRF monastics are streamed on the first and third Sundays.
Meanwhile, attendance dropped for the evening Commemoration services, with some weeknight services drawing fewer than ten persons. Brother Devananda, our Monastic Counselor, encouraged us to be flexible and try moving dates and times and combining commemoration services to see if more persons would be able to attend.
So, on Sunday January 5th, 2025, we held Guruji’s Birthday Commemoration at 11:00 a.m., followed by birthday cake and the singing of “Happy Birthday” to Yoganandaji. The devotional energy was deep and memorable, and the turnout was three times larger than last year’s evening commemoration service for our Guru's birthday. That was a promising start, and the next test is coming soon — for the upcoming mahasamadhi services on March 7 and March 9, described earlier in this newsletter.
These special events happen due to the efforts of many. We send a heartfelt thank you to the many Portland Center volunteers: flower, hospitality and cleaning committees; readers, greeters, ushers and all who adapt to these changes with flexibility and devotion.
The biggest thank-you goes to our Guru, Paramahansa Yogananda, who reminds us, “The deeper you meditate and the more willingly you serve, the happier you will be.”
Jai Guru!
In divine friendship,

Kimberly Stevens, Linda Clark-Traeger,

Lisa Buchholz, Mike O'Brien and Paulette Fritsch

Ongoing Monthly Events at Portland Center



First Sunday: Sunday School for children ages three to twelve, held from 11:00 a.m. to noon. More information is available on our website. Please note: In March, Sunday School will meet on March 9 instead of the first Sunday, March 2.


Third Sunday: Friendship Tea – an opportunity to meet informally with spiritual friends immediately following the 11:00 service, while sharing light refreshments.


Last Sunday: Meditation Service led by Portland Center's kirtan group, beginning with group practice of the SRF Energization Exercises at 8:00 a.m. This is followed by periods of meditation and chanting accompanied by traditional Indian instruments. If you are unable to stay for the full kirtan period, you may enter or leave the chapel during the chanting at 9:00 and 10:00 a.m.

How to Make a Financial Contribution



We deeply appreciate your contributions of time and resources to help us meet the recurring expenses that sustain our Center, as we are supported solely by financial contributions from our members and friends, and by volunteers who donate their skills.


For those who would like to contribute online, you can

send funds through Zelle to the following email address:


portlandcenterdonations@gmail.com


If you prefer to write a check, please know that checks payable to "Portland Center" will be deposited locally and used to support our Center's activities, pay utility bills, etc. Checks payable to "Self-Realization Fellowship" are sent to SRF headquarters in Los Angeles, to support SRF's worldwide activities.

 

Checks may be mailed to 356 NE 80th Avenue, Portland 97213.


Thank you for your support!

“Just beneath the shadows of this life is God’s wondrous Light. The universe is a vast temple of His presence. When you meditate, you will find doors opening to Him everywhere. When you have communion with Him,

not all the ravages of the world can take away that Joy and Peace.”


Paramahansa Yogananda

in Why God Permits Evil, and How to Rise Above It

Interested in finding other SRF groups

in the Pacific NW or throughout the world?



Click here:

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