I came to the ashram in the late summer, the first year that the youth program started. Swami Lalitananda and Swami Radhananda played a big role in guiding us youth that year. In looking back now, it was a remarkable experience to be a youth in the program’s early days. The generosity from all of the residents and Swamis, with their time and teachings, as they shaped the program was profound and I daresay had lasting impacts on many of us who took part all those years ago.
At some point during that first Fall, Swami Radhananda was guiding us through the Life seals program. She made one quiet suggestion about some images I had drawn, and with that, managed to plant a seed that in many ways grows in me still. It was the gentle subtlety of her remark that made all the difference – it allowed for my own sense of empowerment to take flight that day. Looking back now, I understand that kind of subtlety to be the mark of a truly generous and insightful teacher.
Rachel Johnston