Thanks and Gratitude to Niel Feldman for a dedicated life...
A film about old friends, science, religion, Saradeswari Ashram, Mataji Gaurivrata and the dedication of Sri Sri Ma's Temple in Ganges in 1998.
Gauri Ma Came West At The Holy Twins Behest...
Vandana Ma and Mataji Gauribrata at Temple Dedication, 1998...
Vandana Ma and Mataji Gauribrata at Temple Dedication, 1998. They first met, in this life, in 1986 - and from then until Vandana Ma's passing in 2019, they together lovingly crafted, fostered and cared for the new mission that was growing in Ganges, Michigan - Holy Twins Consciousness for Gender Equality. Gender Equality for balance. A bird can only fly because it has two wings!
* Gauri Ma passed in 1938 with the words, "I will be born again in a white body. You will know it is I for I will know where the sacred objects are kept at Saradeswari Ashram..." And they knew The Holy Twins...
* Swami Bhashyananda and other monks, with a special devotion to Sri Sri Ma , watched and waited. They knew The Holy Twins, Sri Sri Ma & Sri Ramakrishna...
* Swami Bhashyananda recognized Gauri Ma - as Eva Schroeder in 1973.
* Swami Asheshananda saw her in Chicago for the first time in 1973 and was shocked, "So, you have come again!" He had known Gauri Ma for many years in Kolkatta, at Sri Sri Ma's residence.
* Swami Bhashyananda built the Vivekananda Monastery because Swami Vivekananda had seen something, across Lake Michigan from Lincoln Park in Chicago, a hundred years earlier. Swami Bhashyananda knew where to buy land from a sign he saw on 196 "Glenn-Ganges".
* And that Monastery for men He expanded to include a convent for Sri Sri Ma and Gauri Ma...
* Vivekananda Monastery was built from 1973 to 1991. Mataji Gauribrata and Swami Atmalokananda arrived at the Vedanta Society of Chicago in 1973, a few weeks apart. And the work began. The Monastery was built but the mission of Gauri Ma could not be done as the Monastery proved to be unsuitable for serving women and children.
* Mataji Gauribrata (Eva) came to Kolkatta and found Gauri Ma's Ashram, as if by chance , in 1986 - and knew where the sacred relics were kept, just as Gauri Ma had predicted in 1938.
* And the nuns at Saradeswari Ashram knew that Gauri Ma had returned...
* Swami Bhashyananda with Mataji Gauribrata and others had planned a Temple to Sri Sri Ma earlier at the Monastery. It was no longer necessary, as the Holy Twin consciousness had now gone to a new home, at Mothers Trust Mothers Place.
* Sri Sri Ma's Temple was begun in 1990 and completed in 1998. Vandana Ma, Nandita Ma and others came and dedicated the New Temple - for The Holy Twins...
* This was something new and fresh. No longer would it be possible for a masculine -only mentality to dominate, as it had for a hundred years. Gender Equality would now have a chance and voice, as had been absent in the past - and all because Gauri Ma had come West @ The Holy Twins Behest...
Panchatapa Ceremony 1990
Swami Bhashyananda's Birthday - April 18th. WE REMEMBER!
We remember our Guru and the mission he instilled at Mothers Trust... On right, Mataji Gauribrata and Swami Bhashyananda, at the beginning of the Panchatapa ceremony, January, 1990 .
The ceremony was performed by Mataji for clarity and vision in the mission that was coming. PANCH in Sanskrit means "5" and TAPA means "Fire". So, 4 fires were arranged and lit in the cardinal directions - with the SUN overhead. 5 fires. Mataji sat surrounded by them for 5 days, from sunrise to sunset.
It was on the second day that she heard the voice of Sri Sri Ma (Sarada Devi, Holy Twin to Sri Ramakrishna):
"On This Spot, Build Me a Temple With The Alter In The Orchard".
At the same time she saw a geometrical shape like a Jewish star. Later, Swami Bhashyananda heard her description and said she saw the Sri Yantra, a sacred shape and symbol of the Divine Mother.
So it seemed a Temple to Sri Sri Ma was to be built. However, "the orchard" area was not a part of the land that would soon become Mothers Trust. Inquiries were made and the five acres of orchard trees were available. They were duly purchased and within a few months, the construction was begun...
A Temple to Sri Sri Ma and a continuing mission to serve Women and Children AND especially Girls - is the sacred legacy and mission of Mothers Trust Mothers Place.
There is a direct lineage, as it were, from mother to daughter, that brings to us the sacred mission we see at Mothers Trust. From the Holy Twins, Sri Sri Ma Sarada Devi and Sri Ramakrishna to Gauri Ma - the first transmission in the sacred lineage. From Gauri Ma to Durga Ma and from Durga Ma to Subrata Ma . It was Subrata Ma who welcomed Mataji Gauribrata to Saradeshwari Ashram in 1986. The next in the lineage was Vandana Ma. It was she who welcomed Gauribrata at the door of Saradeshwari Ashram with the words, "You must know who you are". Vandana Ma went on to guide and participate in the growing mission developing in Ganges. She and other sannyasinis came to the USA and Ganges, Mi in 1998. This visit was for two purposes, to dedicate the new Temple to Sri Sri Ma at Mothers Trust and to make Mothers Trust an official branch of Saradeshwari Ashram. That was the plan, but it didn't turn out exactly as expected.
The temple was duly dedicated, special worships performed over several days. Ashes and Relics of Sri Sri Ma, brought from India by Vandana Ma, were worshipped and installed. They were placed side by side with Ashes and Relics of Sri Ramakrishna - burried into the foundation of Sri Ma's Temple years before, at the direction of Swami Sarvagatananda and Swami Bhashyananda. Then it came time for Mataji Gauribrata to sign over Mothers Trust to Saradeswari Ashram. A ceremony was arranged in the old Shrine building for this event. All were gathered around the alter where so many holy people had prayed for an auspicious beginning to the Holy Twin mission at Mothers Trust. Mataji Gauribrata lifted the pen to sign - and she heard the voice of Sri Sri Ma once again - "If you sign this document, you will be the first one asked to leave". Needless to say, Gauribrata didn't sign, much to the surprise of all those who had gathered ...
Gauribratas Spirit
Pictured on right, Mataji Gauribrata, Rev. Eva Schroeder arrives at Saradeshwari Ashram in 1986 - the fulfillment of a prophecy made by Gauri Ma in 1938: "I will be born again in a white body. You will know it is I for I will know where the sacred objects are kept in the ashram."
(Read More, How Gauri Ma Came to the West...)
Vandana Mas Spirit
http://saradeswariashram.org/mothertrust.html
andana Ma's own words about Sri Sri Ma, Sri Ramakrishna and Mothers Trust:
" The said monastery at the Ganges, Michigan, U.S.A come to usher under the leadership of Sri Gauribrata Puri and her associates stretched out over few acres of land not for off from the river Michigan. The convent was officially inaugurated by Revered Bandana Puri Devi, the Secretary of Shri Shri Saradeswari Ashram & Free Hindu Girls’ School in July 1998. Though formal affiliation to this convent has not been given but a congenial relation with the mother Ashram at Kolkata, India has been maintained all through its inception. Sri Gauribrata Puri is the ascetic disciple of Sri Sri Subrata Puri Devi, the third chief of the Ashram in succession. Keeping harmony with the maxim of the Ashram, the guiding principle of this convent also are “Sarba Dharama Samanaya” preached by Lord Ramakrishna and Universal Mother Sri Sri Saradamoni Devi. Her ascetic guru, Sri Sri Subrata Puri Devi commended her “Carry Gaurima to your land” and Sri Gauribrata Puri ardently followed that mission lifelong, in touch with the mother Ashram with modifications in the pattern of western countries, keeping the basic principles unchanged. The system adopted by this nunnery that the ascetic mendicancy to be taken from the centre at Kolkata, India. Through the Mothers’ Place/Mother Trust many counties of USA aware about the Ashram and visit the Ashram often. "
Atmalokanandas Spirit
Gender Equality Always...
Swami Atmalokananda first came to Swami Bhashyananda in June, 1973. Mataji Gauribrata first came a few weeks ealier. The mission of Mothers Trust, Gender Equality in the lineage of The Holy Twins, began at this time.
On right, Bhashyananda and Atmalokananda on the future site of Sri Sri Ma's Temple at Mothers Trust, circa 1990.
Mothers Trust has a Mataji and a Swami in charge - Gender Eqality, at the Behest of the Holy Twins.
HOW WE SERVE
FOR GENERAL MOTHERS TRUST INFORMATION, CALL REV. GLENN DAVENPORT, SWAMI ATMALOKANANDA, 616-293-6884.
Our Missions in Service
HOW WE SERVE AS MODERN MYSTICS WITH MISSION HEARTS:
Our Misson is To Honor & serve Humanity,
Especially regarding the welfare of Women & Girls.
NAMASTE FROM MOTHERS TRUST MISSION ASHRAM, RAMAKRISHNA SARADA UNIVERSAL TEMPLE, FOR DARSHAN OF THE SACRED ASHES OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND SACRED RELICS 0F HOLY MOTHER SRI SARADA DEVI, ALSO KNOWN AS SRI SRI MA.
Mothers Trust Mothers Place is a Religious Order. We maintain the Mothers Trust location, with its land, buildings and Temple as a Sacred Space for all time, with the Holy Relics that are interred here. For information about Mothers Trust, contact: revglennclergy@motherstrust.org, 616-293-6884.
We are looking for people like you to speak up and stand out. When you make a commitment to become an advocate for Women & Girls, you are joining a community of people who recognize the power in coming together for justice. When we come together as a collective unit, we refuse to be unseen and unheard. We refuse to let victims and survivors stand alone.
We Honor & Explore the meaning of the "Motherhood of God" & its implications for renewed understanding. We use universality & exploration of sacred wisdom, as found in the world's faith traditions, to inform contemporary issues. We advocate compassion to meet global issues & human needs. Gender Equality & Respect for women & men alike is our underlying method. Mothers Trust recognizes the sacred in all & maintains sacred space for exploring the Wonders of the Spirit.
We are dedicated to interfaith study and dialogue as a way of promoting understanding, compassionate forgiveness, respect and peaceful relationships among people of differing beliefs. For the sustainability of the earth and the healing of all living beings, Interfaith honors differences and the common ground of human dignity and Spirit.
We advocate and serve Women & Children and especially Girls in today's modern world. All to often, from a long global past of patriarchal practices and methods, our Women and Girls can face discrimination and abuse. We support organizations that work directly with Women and Girls to reduce global inequalities.
Support Women & Girls in Need...
Your support helps Women & Girls in Need & maintains our Sacred Space - where relics of Sri Sarada Devi & Sri Ramakrishna are enshrined for all time. A Tirtha in West Michigan where "1000s will come."
