The AMS FAMILY CONNECTION
from Doreena
Welcome to 2020 everyone! I made a new years resolution that I would send this email to as many people as possible to keep you in the loop of what is going on in and around AMS. I realize that not all of you have signed up for the American Meditation Society Newsletter where I write the President’s message and therefore might not be aware of the happenings in and around AMS. If you want to stay in the loop I encourage you to sign up at
americanmeditationsociety.org
and click on: “Join our Newsletter.”
When I accepted the role of President for AMS in July 2018, I committed to a 3 year term, which will be ending in July 2021. Accepting this role was my way to pay back for all of the tremendous benefits I received over the past 43 years since meeting Gururaj and joining the AMS community. I have especially benefited spiritually, however, I cannot deny the mental benefits and the deeper understanding I received as I continue to unfold to greater awareness and understanding. Gururaj has been my greatest teacher in my lifetime and I understand that many of you feel the same way.
As you are aware, one of our biggest challenges in the United States is getting together as a group. Unless we live in close proximity to other meditators we often find ourselves alone in this vast expansive land we call America. We might even feel more alone if we had not had the opportunity to attend courses and retreats where the presence of Gururaj is still very present as we meditate, chant and listen to Gururaj satsangs together. Gururaj always said that “spiritual bonds can never be broken”. Therefore, please know that you are never disconnected from your AMS spiritual family even though you might be feeling “left out”.
I would like to address some of the questions I have been getting since I assumed this role in the past two years. They are as follows:
What happened to the AMS Ashram that was supposed to manifest in Knoxville, TN?
After past president Kenton Yeager and other AMS chelas spent a tremendous amount of time and energy searching for ashram possibilities during 2017, the project was halted due to financial issues. However, I can assure you the donations that people contributed still remain intact and are being used to continue Gururaj’s teachings to support the website, teaching, publishing and archiving projects.
I heard there is an ashram that manifested in New York in 2019. What is that about?
A new Ashram opened in October 2019 in Briarcliff, NY, financed by a beloved chela of Gururaj, Lee Swanson. Months before the house was purchased, Lee met with one of Gururaj’s sons who inquired about whether his fathers teachings were still being propagated in the world and if so, which country was doing the most. Raman Leonato’s organization in Spain, stood out amongst the other global organizations under Gururaj’s umbrella. Then the question was asked about who in the U.S. was doing the most teaching. Merrill Harmin and his wife Mataji (may she RIP) in New York had formed a large group in New York over many years and a lot of energy was generated under Merrrill’s leadership. Therefore, they decided to start the ashram in the New York area as a result of the combined energy that Raman brought from Spain and the energy that Merrill created in NY. They made the decision to bring Raman to America to lead the NY ashram, which Raman named IFSU. Our beloved Merrill is now in his 90’s and is a great example of the phrase that age is just a number and you are never too old to make a difference in people’s lives.
Is the New York IFSU Ashram an AMS entity?
- No. The NY ashram is not a part of AMS. It is a separate entity, however, some of the AMS NY meditators are involved in both organizations, which is what causes some of the confusion.
- The goal for the groups in America (AMS and IFSU) as well as our sister organizations around the world is to keep a close connection to each other and honor our strengths while promoting Gururaj’s teachings.
What has happened to AMS since then?
- Even though AMS did not manifest a physical ashram in 2018 the spiritual manifestation is felt internally in all our hearts. We are still a very strong spiritual organization with profound roots as I can personally attest to when visiting retreats around the country. Our spiritual energy resides within each and every one of us even without the physical manifestation of an ashram. We know that a physical ashram is not necessary to share Gururaj’s teachings even though it would be helpful to gather together if we have a physical location. I encourage you to visit some of your fellow meditators or go to an AMS retreat and you will feel the palpable energy.
Other happenings around AMS:
- The AMS website americanmeditationsociety.org has been transformed, thanks to the amazing efforts of Emma Wood in Knoxville. Chuichi Chen has offered to maintain it and keep it up to date with new information. Thank you Emma and Chuichi!
- Thanks to the initiative of our past President, Kenton Yeager, we now have nearly a 100,000 people around the world listening to Gururaj’s audio satsangs on Insight Timer. Download the Insight Timer app on your cell phones and take a look and listen to snippets of some of Gururaj’s satsangs.
- Former President of AMS Vidya Anderson is still the wind beneath our wings. With over 35 years of service she deserves our deepest gratitude for all she has done and is still doing to keep our spiritual organization alive as we continue to evolve.
- Small groups are getting together for mini retreats in local communities (not advertised on the website) around the country. Some of our AMS meditators in the Edwardsville, IL and St. Louis, MO areas recently had a weekend retreat where they meditated, chanted and communed together. They had another meditation gathering last weekend and nearly 20 local people showed up! Go Heartland of America!
- My spiritual journey has led me to teach meditation at wellness centers, community organizations, the University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine for doctors and medical students. I am currently involved in a prison project to teach meditation to inmates at a maximum security men’s prison in Dallas, Texas.
Where do we go from here?
The American Meditation Society is now in the middle of its 5th decade! That is proof that we have stability and perseverance to continue to carry this organization forward into this new decade. However, in order to continue to keep AMS a viable entity, we need the talents and energy of all who are willing to share their expertise in the following areas:
- Supporting Chuichi in building new content for the AMS website
- Teaching and offering intro talks and presentations in your local areas
- Handling Registration for retreat attendees.
- Taking the lead in Teacher Training
- Searching for new retreat centers to host 5 day summer national retreats
- Supporting Sutriya in digitizing cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs into MP3s and MP4s so they can be ready for distribution
- People (with IT or computer skills) who can offer computer support with software programs and hardware issues.
- Making sure we have a presence and updated information on social media platforms like FaceBook and Instagram.
Please let me know if you are willing to participate in anyway whatsoever. Your help and support will be very much appreciated. If you don’t see anything that’s listed above and have any other ideas, I would be very interested in hearing about it. You can email me at
dooreena@comcast.net
. I’m looking forward to hearing from you or seeing you at an AMS retreat. Also, if you are already having meditation get togethers or mini retreats in your local areas, I would love to hear about them!
As we progress in this new decade, let’s all support each other by volunteering and attending courses and retreats around the world. AMS will have an international retreat in the summer of 2021. We are looking for a retreat center that is conducive to our group so please help find a good location (not too far from a major airport) to host our group for this important summer event.
Love and Namaste,
Doreena Durbin, President
American Meditation Society
