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A Celebration of Spirit At Ananda Village
the holiday is a blend of tradition

By David Mirhadi

The students filed quietly into Ananda's Hansa Temple, stopping briefly to remove their shoes and sit cross-legged on the floor.

A cellist and flutist softly played traditional Christmas songs as candles flickered and incense burned on a series of altars made to cleanse the children's spirits and infuse a sense of goodwill toward others.

Christmas at Ananda, a meditative community headquartered on the San Juan Ridge, is a study in promoting positive spirits and energy with traditions borrowed from Christianity and Ananda's spiritual base.

Friday, students approached three altars designed to cleanse their bodies of harmful karma, embrace positive spirit and distribute the positive energy to the rest of the world.
Those expecting a traditional Christmas ceremony might be surprised at what transpired on the last day at Ananda School before the holidays.

One altar featured a burning flame, where each student took a pinch of rice, and in a meditative motion set the rice aflame, ostensibly destroying the negative karma in themselves.
A second, larger altar was fronted by a depiction of Jesus Christ and important figures in the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, who focuses on direct, inner experiences of God, or "self-realization." Christ is at the head of the series of pictures, along with a number of influential individuals aligned with Yogananda's teachings.

Once your heart is free of harmful influences, teacher Toby Moorhouse said, you are able to offer yourself in a union with Christ.

The third altar, depicting peace signs and the yin-yang of life, serves as a vehicle to spread that spirit to others.
Several dozen students attend the K-12 school, from as close as Nevada City to students from Europe, and from a variety of religious backgrounds.

Moorhouse said the altars are appropriate during this season of goodwill and cleansing of the soul.

"We want to be able to offer many different spiritual paths," she said.

"Along with the birth of Christ, there's the birth of the Christ spirit, the awakening of that spirit."
As each child approached the altars, the strains of "Silent Night," "Away in a Manger," and "The First Noel" echoed in the chapel, redolent of incense and candle wax.

The focus of this ceremony, as well as much of the curriculum at the Ananda School, is on spirituality, not religion.

The ceremony began with a prayer, in which the students, parents and teacher closed their eyes, asking the Lord to "help us open our hearts and minds to the spirit of Christmas."

Student Tobin Wu, a 16-year-old junior from Portland, Oregon, said the ceremony was a fitting start to his Christmas holiday.

"It made me feel really calm and peaceful. It makes me think about what I'm thankful for, like being here."

Wu and North San Juan-area freshman Sam Hilkey, 14, said they feel a sense of comfort from the school.

"It's almost like coming home to your family," he said.

Wu agreed.

"Our school is a great bonding experience," he said. "Seeing people come together harmoniously makes me ready to go home in a good state of mind."

"We try to focus on every child and bring out from them the highest that they are capable of," Moorhouse said.

(Originally appeared in THE UNION, Grass Valley/Nevada City, CA, Dec 15, 2003.)

Living Wisdom School of Nevada City is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.