Chapter 5: Forming of LA Ashram and Nithyananda Mission in USA
After this incredible trip THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM went back to spend a few months in Bharat. Every time we travel to a new destination THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM gets excited. During the last 30 minutes of the journey he is always excited to get off the plane and see the devotees/disciples. It is almost like a child visiting a new city. He always says, "So many of my people are waiting for me. I can't wait to see them". He would always say before getting down, "now the drama moves to Bharat!" When he is on the plane heading to USA, the same story is true. The beauty is wherever He is; He lives intensely, in the moment, with utter passion.
Whenever we return back to Bharat, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM flies back to Bangalore where the plane lands late in the night. By the time we reach the ashram, it is normally 2 am. The ashram is instantly transformed, there is a buzz in the air, and there is electricity. The first thing he does is to go to the banyan tree. He then proceeds directly to the Ananda Sabha where the entire ashram is anxiously awaiting for his arrival. He then spends 3-4 hours talking to all the disciples. The session typically ends with energy darshan at 5 am or 6 am. The ashram now springs back to life. Everyone is running helter-skelter getting everything ready for the upcoming programs. As THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM says, "The drama has shifted to Bharat!" Normally after a tour to Bharat, Ma Sachitananda and I would get relieved, a new crew joins and the Hindu ashramites and disciples are excited to have the Master back in Bharat. We take a break, but Master's work is 24x7x365!
The morning after the Master lands in Bharat, He immediately gets back into administrative matters to ensure in all departments, work is progressing. He typically calls for a meeting of all department heads and asks them about what is going on. In the early days of the mission, the ashramites would hear from the master through telephone calls and e-mails. But as time has gone by, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has become very "tech savvy" and he is constantly on chat over the internet or through a video conference. In fact these days, ashramites sometimes say that they get more work from Him when He is away from Bharat than when He is in Bharat. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM purposely keeps us fully occupied. He says working intensely and achieving the impossible is spirituality. We noticed that when we are around Him we are constantly engaged. It is a technique he uses to tire the mind and the logic that constantly plagues us and gives us un-necessary problems. This does not mean he does not want us to use our intellect and intelligence. In fact he very much wants us to use it, but he does not want us waste our time in gossiping, and in useless activities. Also, when the mind rests, the master's work can happen very easily.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM has already seen the LA Ashram in his vision back in 2002 when one fine day in Erode, he suddenly told Ayya and Amma, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's first disciples and ashramites, "Ayya, we will have our eastern headquarters in Bangalore and Western hemisphere headquarters in Los Angeles. Ayya, where is Los Angeles?" Ayya, who did not understand what THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM said, and asked him, "THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM Los Angeles is in America. We don't know anybody there. How can this be?" THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM said there are so many of my people who are already in various parts of the world waiting for him and this will simply happen. Little did we know He is playing His Lila. The script of his mission and what He has come down for has long been written. He is simply enacting this drama called life.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had already started getting deities carved for the temples that will be built all over the world. The carving work already began in 2004. By 2005 the carving work of various deities was in full swing at various carving centers. The artisans have been working tirelessly and by late 2007 we have shipped over 300 deity statues to USA. Little did we know temples in USA will be starting in Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver, Phoenix, Columbus St Louis, Oklahoma, Houston, New York, Florida and Toronto all at once in 2007! He knew about all of this and had started the work three years ago.
After touring various cities in Tamil Nadu, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was getting items ready for the LA Ashram inauguration. Several container loads of shipments were being planned to be shipped to Los Angeles. We did not know where the ashram was going to happen and how. He told us it will simply happen.
Bhaktananda came to Los Angeles a month before THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's arrival. The plan was for THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM to arrive in Los Angeles after gurupoornima. Bhaktananda and Sri Ananda Jyothi, who lived in San Diego at that time, came to Los Angeles in June. They started searching for various properties and parcels of land for the LA Ashram. They stayed at a Days Inn in Duarte, California which was located close to some of our close devotees' homes.
During his trip back to Bharat, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM toured various parts of Tamil Nadu where people often gather for His satsangs. This tour was titled 'Ananda Ula' where THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM toured Thiruvannamalai, Salem, Vellore and Chennai. After these satsangs and gurupoornima, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM came back to America. He was quite excited to be back in USA. There were a lot of preparations in terms of items for the temple, vessels for homas and ceremonies, decoration items, stone deities that THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM gave instructions to pack up and ship to Los Angeles.