January 29, 2025

A lot happens at Greenfield Retreat Center. With the sacred silence often rent by the excitement and noise of ongoing chapel construction, it would be easy to overlook the many forms of service that lie at the heart of this sacred place.

In coming weeks, whenever construction slows due to weather, we’ll focus attention on some of the many other service projects and activities underway here. It’s a long list. Here’s one project that belongs near the top of that list: rose petals for devotees around the world.

Petals for Home Kriya Ceremony

If you’ve had the blessing of receiving SRF’s new Kriya Yoga Lessons, you’ve likely held in your hands a small plastic envelope containing a card and dried rose petals—special petals that were blessed and made sacred in Master’s shrine at Mother Center. (The use and import of the petals are explained in the accompanying Lesson.)

From Mother Center in Los Angeles, these dried petals are sent out to devotees in multiple countries throughout the world. Long before the rose petals make it to Mother Center, however, they’ve made a significant stopover at Greenfield.

The Greenfield Connection

At Greenfield, a team of local women devotees has the sacred privilege of carrying out the multi-step process that prepares the petals. Under monastic supervision, members of the team purchase red roses, press and dry the petals, and insert them by hand into small plastic envelopes. This meticulous process requires concentration and mindful, focused attention—kind of like meditation.

This past year the Greenfield Petal Seva team has sent literally thousands of petal packets to Mother Center to be blessed and forwarded to brand new kriyabans and also to long-time kriyabans who request the new Kriya Lessons. So far the team has prepared packets in English, Italian, and Portuguese, with Spanish language packets soon to come. (Packets for devotees in India and surrounding countries are prepared in India.)

What with the current explosive growth of Self-Realization Fellowship, and with the new Lessons being translated into many new languages, the Petal Seva team looks forward to working together, with love and harmony, at this sweet, humble task on into the future.

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January 16, 2025

With all the snow and ice and freezing temperatures over the several days, you might well think that all would be quiet at Greenfield. Not so!

Of course, it was quiet on the few days when Greenfield was officially closed and also on days when snow made it impossible to drive down our lane. But once a path was cleared, the usual bustle started up once again. And that includes all the blessedly noisy construction work on our new chapel, which is once again rapidly taking shape.

Onward and Upward

That’s right. Even on the coldest, windiest days over the past week, construction continued. Piles of lumber arrived to be stacked in the snow. Construction workers, bundled to the gills in their winter gear, scampered about out in the open, hammering and sawing and hoisting completed sections of the building into place.

The good news is that the roof trusses on building are going up. The final outline of the building is coming into view—a thing of beauty, exciting to behold.

Once the trusses are complete, completing work on roof comes next. Then the workers will be able to spend at least some of their time working inside, out of the cold, cold wind. (Sounds like motivation to get these next steps done quickly.)

Bottom line is that despite the harsh winter weather of recent days, construction is still on schedule.

Our deep appreciation goes to the workers out there every day on the job. Take a moment to ask Divine Mother to bless and protect the workers as they labor in the cold and wind to build our beautiful new Greenfield Chapel.

To see a video of last week’s progress, click here

And here is a playlist of all construction videos

 

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January 7, 2025

Watching progress on the new Greenfield Chapel last week was almost like watching a time lapse video. It’s happening so fast that it’s fun to watch.

Seems like workers are constantly scurrying about on the construction site. It’s a regular ant hill of constant activity.

Meanwhile, devotees and nuns serving at Greenfield go about our tasks, focusing on whatever form of service we happen to be working on at the time. Each of us tries to work and serve as our revered Guru Paramahansa Yoganandaji taught us—with full attention on the task at hand, while also doing our best to practice the presence.

Surprised by Progress

After working for a while at whatever service we’re at Greenfield to accomplish, we come up for air and look about…or we just happen to walk or drive by the construction site, and…WOW!!! Whoa! Is that a new wall? Already? When did that happen?”

Within a few short days this past week exterior walls have been framed from the lower-level (basement) all the way to the top of the main floor. And workers have also started framing the porch. If weather permits—and in January that’s a pretty big if—the chapel could well be completely framed by the end of January.

After walls and roof are complete, the crew can begin work on the interior. That means things like installing electrical and plumbing fixtures. Of course, that’s not as much fun to watch on time lapse video. It does mean that once workers begin on the interior that weather will not be as much of factor.

We’re still on schedule for the Greenfield Chapel to completed sometime in the fall this year. Keep those prayers coming!

To see a video of last week’s progress, click here

And here is a playlist of all construction videos

 

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December 23, 2024

Suddenly, we’re seeing major progress.  Our new Greenfield Chapel is starting to materialize before our very eyes.

Progress seems to come in spurts. We waited what seemed like a long time for inspections, paperwork, and county approval to happen, while the building site just sat quiet. Waiting.

Then, work crews showed up and the foundation happened, quickly it seemed. Then once again, while lots of workers came and went, scurrying around the building site, we couldn’t see any visible results. That’s simply because the crew was working on things like underground plumbing and waterproofing the foundation. These are, of course, necessary steps, but they don’t look like much to the outside viewer.

Watch This Space

Then, this past week we saw major progress: Work crews completed the concrete floor slab on the lower level. That done, they started framing. Suddenly, in a flurry of hoisting and hammering, the basic structure of the lower level started to take shape.

Over the next couple of months, we should begin to see the building take shape—lower level framing, followed by main level framing of floor and walls.

As of now, construction is still on schedule. Weather permitting, we could very well be enjoying the 2025 All-Day Christmas Meditation in our new chapel.

To enjoy a video of last week’s progress, click here

And here is a playlist of all construction videos

Help  Build Greenfield’s Chapel

This is a good place to acknowledge the loving support of the many devotees who have made building this chapel possible. Thank you for your years of prayers, volunteer work, and financial support.

It’s important to realize that every member of the work crew on this project receives wages. Every load of lumber, cinder blocks, or cement, comes with a cost.

If you are able, and would like to make a donation to Greenfield’s Building Fund, click here.

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December 19, 2024

We revere Lord Jesus. His image graces every SRF altar in temples, ashrams, and meditation centers all over the world. Our beloved Guru Paramahansa Yoganandaji’s 2-volume Second Coming of Christ devotes more than 1,000 pages to his life and teachings. Jesus’s picture also graces literally thousands upon thousands of devotees’ home altars.

And—this is really important—Jesus holds a special place in our hearts and minds. Every devotee knows that we strive to manifest the consciousness of Christ in our daily lives.

Christ, Sculpted in Bronze

With Christmas season upon us, it seems appropriate to give some attention to the other construction project currently underway at Greenfield—a sacred meditation garden that pays special homage to our beloved Jesus.

The focal point of this new garden is an original, bronze statue of Jesus Christ blessing a couple of children, also sculpted in bronze.

Created by nationally-renowned sculptor and stone carver Malcolm Harlow, this set of 3 statues was especially commissioned just for Greenfield. It’s one of a kind.

Harlow garnered national recognition as an artist in stone during his many years of work in the National Cathedral in Washington DC. You may well have seen another of his statues. He  sculpted the statue of a George Washington that stands in front of the George Washington Office Museum in Winchester, VA.

Heavy Statues, Heavy Lifting

It should come as no surprise that bronze statues weigh a LOT. Moving these three statues into place required heavy lifting, not to mention a good deal of preliminary work—picking just the right spot in the garden, constructing cement platforms that will permanently anchor the statues in their new home, and some seriously careful maneuvering of the forklift. Harlow was here at Greenfield for some of the action.

The work to create this new meditation garden is already well underway—designing, planning, seeking Master’s guidance in creating the beauty that is to come. So far, only spring bulbs have been planted.  But a good deal of work has already been done to facilitate access to the garden. If you stand behind the garage and look down the hill, you’ll see new gravel paths and a couple of beautiful new wooden bridges.

Feel free to walk down and take a look around.  Do realize, however, that the garden is still a work in progress.

Once benches, custom-tiled by one of our talented SRF members, are installed and plantings are in place and in bloom, this new garden promises to be a very special place for prayer and meditation under the open sky.

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November 26, 2024

Construction continues on our Greenfield Chapel. Last week, soggy weather slowed things down, and what did happen was mostly underground and almost invisible.

Workers applied waterproofing to the foundation and installed some of the underground plumbing. Next step after plumbing is inspected will be installing the ground floor slab, which will also need to be inspected.

Devotees will be happy to know that Greenfield has its very own inspector on the job!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Master’s Greenfield devotees have so much to be thankful for. May your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with light, love, and Divine Mother’s blessings.

Here is the latest construction video.

And here is a playlist of all construction videos.

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November 18, 2024

No movement at all for months, followed by rapid dramatic progress for several weeks… That’s an apt description of how our Greenfield Chapel construction project got underway.

Now what?

Construction is ongoing, dampened somewhat by a couple of soggy, rainy days. The foundation walls and the steel beams that support the main floor are now complete and in place.

Back to the Earth

A  few things need to take place before the concrete floor slab gets poured:

Plumbing. Pipes to drain away all the waste water from the building’s sinks and toilets will be installed next. That means that workers will be back—you guessed it—digging in the ground directly under the spot where the new chapel is already starting to take shape.

Inspection. Once the underground preparations are completed, these need to be inspected. Construction plans call for that to take just one day.

Tending to the Sacred. This, from Sister Brahmani: “Mother Center has given us some soil from sacred places – Babaji’s cave, Mother Center, Encinitas, Lake Shrine, and Hollywood Temple. We will sprinkle this into the foundation area before the slab is poured.”

After the slab is poured and inspected, all the action will again move above ground where we can more easily watch the progress as it unfolds.

With Thanksgiving holidays ahead of us, construction will slow somewhat. Please do remember that we have a LOT be thankful for as we sit down to our celebratory meals. After years of planning and eager anticipation, construction on our new Greenfield Chapel is well underway and still on target, if winter weather cooperates, to reach completion sometime in the Fall of 2025.

Here is the latest construction video.

And here is a playlist of all construction videos.

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November 8, 2024

Foundation Nearing Completion

Suddenly, it’s there: Progress! After weeks of looking at earth being moved and holes being dug and cement being poured into holes, we’re now watching an actual building starting to take shape.

Over the past several days, work crews have laid the foundation walls--cinder blocks soon to be filled with cement and reinforced with rebar.

If you want to feel good about what’s going on at Greenfield, give thanks and take a moment to enjoy the latest construction video.

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October 29, 2024

Really Digging It

They’re at it again. Once again—after a pause that lasted almost three weeks—construction workers returned to Greenfield. Again, the air was rent with the sounds of heavy machinery leveling the ground, digging holes for the new chapel’s footings and foundation.

And (finally!) the actual substance of our new Greenfield Chapel was quite literally poured into all those carefully prepared holes. Click on this link to a time lapse video of all the action last week on the building site.

Why the pause? On October 4, the first day of actual construction, builders discovered a problem involving the alignment of drainage pipes and the chapel’s foundation. Adjusting the depth of the foundation required an engineer’s input and paperwork that needed Greenfield’s attention.

That’s all been taken care of. Let’s face it, if you’re going to find a problem, it’s a good thing to have it happen on day one and not further along in the construction process. (Fortunately, the required changes were not of the kind requiring county approval.)

 

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October 9, 2024

Together We Advance!

It’s happening! Finally!!!  Just before dawn on Friday, October 4th, construction actually began on our brand new Greenfield Chapel. October 4th just happens to be the feast day of St. Francis. Somehow that seems fitting.

All it took to get things underway was a couple of dry days in a row. Then, heavy equipment rumbled up the lane and workers started digging.

A Very Special Hole in the Ground

At this point they’re digging what looks like a basic hole in the ground. Don’t be fooled, however. This dig entails precisely engineered measurements, and it’s going to take several days.

Our chapel is being built on a hill. So of course that means workers will need to cut into the hill at just the right angle so the foundation and the floors above will be perfectly level. Eye-balling it won’t do; they’ll need the help of lasers and engineers to get that hole done just right.

Before the foundation gets  poured, workers are also digging deep holes for the footings. Footings (also called footers) are poured concrete structures, sometimes including rebar, that support the foundation itself, while the foundation supports the building above.

A whole lot of digging and measuring needs to take place before the foundation and footings are poured and actual components of the building itself make an appearance. We’ll keep you posted, every step of the way.  We have created a timelapse video of the work done on the first day, October 4, 2024, compressing eight hours into a two-minute video on YouTube. When you get there, read the text below the video for more details. Our plan is to have timelapse videos each week for the duration of the project.

Stay Tuned for Regular Updates

Bottom line: How long will it be before we get to meditate in our new chapel?

Builders envision completion as soon as September 2025. But that will depend on things like availability of machinery and work crews, not to mention the weather. Significant snow could slow things down significantly. And, of course, there are multiple inspections as each phase is completed. (Alas, we know from experience how long the approval process can take.)

In coming weeks, we aim to provide regular progress reports, along with lots of pictures.  In the meantime, life goes on  at Greenfield. As always, there’s a lot happening:

Regional Retreat Draws Devotees From Afar

The last weekend in September was a busy one for Greenfield: On the 26th, commemorative service for Lahiri Mahasaya’s mahasamadhi; from Sept. 27 to 29, a retreat that drew more than 70 devotees from 10 different states; then, on Sept. 30, a commemorative service for Lahiri Mahasaya’s birthday.

Now ask yourself: Do you think maybe the nuns who reside in the ashram at Greenfield and the many dedicated volunteers who serve at Greenfield were busy that weekend?

The answer, of course, is YES!

Serving Master’s Family

All of these events were held at the nearby 4-H Center. Let’s take just a moment to acknowledge and appreciate all the behind-the-scenes work (guru seva) that goes into preparing for and conducting multiple events over a five-day period.

Greenfield was honored to host and house the two SRF and YSS monks who conducted the retreats and commemorative services—Brother Jitananda and Brahmachari Bhaskarananda.

Breakfasts and lunches provided for retreatants were prepared at Greenfield, delivered to the 4-H Center, and served by nuns who live at Greenfield, assisted by women on work retreat at Greenfield.

A team of volunteers—local devotees along with some who drove in from a distance to help out—set up the altar, arranged seating, managed parking, set up and took care of audio-visuals, handled registration, answered questions and generally met the needs of retreatants. Then, they cleaned up afterwards.

Sacred Silence, Precious Time

As always taking the time to mediate together and focus on deepening our understanding of Master’s teachings refreshes the spirit.  As Brother Jitananda said: “We retreat in order to advance.”

Here are two photos of the dig, plus if you missed it above, the link to the timelapse video:

Here is a selection of pictures taken during the retreat:

 

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