The Centered Place Newsletter
September 2023
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Namaste
One of the highlights the past few weeks, for Nancy and I, was getting time to read a good book.
Mine was Sometimes Brilliant, by Larry Brilliant. He's one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and winner of the TEDPrize. He really is brilliant. So are you, by the way, but more on that later.
The book is a spiritual memoir and a testament to faith, love, service and what it means to engage in the world and make it a better place for others. Brilliant's path follows a long and winding magical trail. Along the way, he engages with some of the most prominent leaders, spiritual masters, heroes and cultural icons, including Martin Luther King, Ram Dass, Neem Karoli Baba, Steve Jobs, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Grateful Dead, Wavy Gravy, Ken Kesey, the Dalai Lama, Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter (the latter who asked for permission to make copies of this book for a class he was teaching).
The trail emerges from the civil rights movement and the era of sex, drugs and rock and roll in the 60s. It soon leads to spirituality and philanthropy. He cuts his internship short and, along with his wife, Elaine (who postpones law school), joins a caravan of two buses of hippies led by the peace activist, Wavy Gravy. (The year before, Wavy Gravy had been Master of Ceremonies and peace keeper at the Woodstock music festival.) The caravan journeys from London, through Europe,Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, over the Khyber Pass and into Pakistan and India. They stop at numerous spiritual shrines along the way, and they bring food and medical supplies for the poor and starving in India and Pakistan.
|  | Larry and wife, Elaine, with the bus caravan | Brilliant and his wife eventually move into the Indian ashram of Neem Karoli Baba, who becomes their guru (Elaine is given the Sanskrit name Girija). It was Neem Karoli Baba who sent Larry to Delhi to join WHO and help end the smallpox epidemic. Neem Karoli Baba predicted that smallpox would be quickly eradicated. It took less than three years, thanks to Larry's (sometimes) brilliance and his all-the-time perseverance, and thanks to the hundreds of other doctors, epidemologists and volunteers who fighting the disease with him. | |
Brilliant gives an illuminating account of one of the greatest medical triumphs of our time: eradicating a 10,000-year-old disease that in the 20th century alone killed more people than all the era's wars combined. The amazing feats didn't stop there, as later on he also helps start the Seva Foundation, curing blindness for millions of people (Seva is a Sanskrit word meaning selfless service).
What an incredible story! I laughed out loud often and cried, too. My heart was touched deeply. I am still intoxicated with the experience. I have since purchased three more copies of the book to share with friends.
For Larry Brilliant, the ride was not always a delight. He saw a lot of suffering. He toiled with doubt, despair and depression. He had bouts of anger at a God who he thought was not managing the world very well, given all the suffering he saw. But his wife's companionship, the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita and his guru's guidance kept him afloat. One guiding post for Larry was these words from his guru: "It is better to see God in everyone than to try to figure it all out."
|  | Girija often accompanied Larry as he worked in the field. Here they are knocking on doors in an Indian village looking for anyone who has smallpox (he's showing a picture of what smallpox looks like). | |
In the final pages of his book, Brilliant writes: "If after all the death and suffering I have seen, I can still find reason to be optimistic, if I can still love God and find love for everyone in my heart, then I would like this story to lift you and catapult you into another world, where the horror of a common enemy [smallpox] once brought together competing nations to prove that global efforts can accomplish great things...
If a kid from Detroit, the first in his family to go to college, can pass through the stages of anger, self-righteousness, hedonism, and risky adventures through the minefield of drugs, prophets, and ideologies to find a harmony in an attempt to serve and honor God, so can you."
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And so, yes, you can be brilliant, too! And if you are practicing yoga enough, you will know your brilliance and let it shine for everyone.
Larry's ability to integrate spirituality, science and service to improve the world for others dovetails with the teachings of Swami Nirmalananda. The next step for me is to read her new book, Yoga: Embodied Spirituality - Navigating the Inner Quest for Wholeness. On the cover of this book, there's a quote from Swami that includes this message: "Knowing your own Self, you abide in the effulgent bliss of Consciousness and share it wherever you go. This is yoga."
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As for Nancy's reading pleasure the past few weeks, it's been Dinner with Buddha, by local author Roland Merullo. She first got into Merullo's books last summer, when I was reading his Driving Jesus to Little Rock. When I had put that book down for a rest, she picked it up out of curiosity and started reading a few pages. After that, I had a hard time getting the book back from her!
Since then she's already read Breakfast with Buddha and Lunch with Buddha. All these books include road trips, with the author's main character (a skeptic, which I assume is one side of himself), riding with a spiritual character (and that, I know, is the author's other side). Each ride is delightful and thought-provoking with beautiful landscapes and sprinkled with plenty of rest stops for laughs, spiritual wisdom, tenderness and great fun.
Nancy's looking forward to the author's newest book. Yes, believe it or not, it's Dessert with Buddha.
"Merullo has the ability to make not only the personal universal,
but the everyday sacred."- Baltimore Sun
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- Focus Activity for this month: What's Meaningful for You?
- Announcements & reminders
- September fundraiser: Maui
- Class schedule & fees
- Testimonials
- Health precautions
- Birthdays July and August
- Swami Samvidaananda, The Centered Place October
- Yard Sale Saturday
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- Donate for Cancer Research and Treatment
- Bike Ride for Opacum Land Trust
- Freebies and other offerings from Ashram
- Wisdom to live by
- Video of the month
- EnLighten up
- Problems receiving newsletters?
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Focus Practice for this month:
What's most meaningful for you from this month's contemplation article?
Below is a link to this month's contemplation article, "Pleasure, Happiness & Bliss."
Choose a sentence or two from the article and share why it's meaningful for you. Email us with your answer. We will share all reports at the end of the month. (You can choose to remain anonymous.)
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Announcements and Reminders | |
- Tag Sale at The Centered Place all day Saturday, September 9, 8 am to 4 pm. The Saturday morning class will be moved to the following day, Sunday at 10 am (this week only). Note: We have a whole bunch of good stuff to sell. Come early!
- The Yoga + Meditation class moves from Tuesday evenings to Thursday evenings until the end of the year.
- Tour Opacum Bike Ride for Land Conservation, Sunday September 17th. More information included below.
- Half-day workshop and Free Satsang with Swami Samvidaananda coming up Saturday, October 21st. Sign up soon. More information below.
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Please help raise money for the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund. The Maui Strong Fund is providing financial resources with a focus on rapid response and recovery for the devastating wildfires on Maui. The foundation has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.
100 percent of the donation amount will be distributed for community needs.
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Payments made by credit card are charged a $0.30 transaction fee and a 2.5-3.5% processing fee by the credit card processor. These fees are charged by the credit card processing company and not by HCF.
If you prefer to donate by check, make it payable to “Hawai‘i Community Foundation” and write "Maui Strong Fund" in the memo and mail it to:
Hawai‘i Community Foundation
827 Fort Street Mall Honolulu, HI 96813
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Ongoing: W. Brookfield Sharing Cupboard Food Pantry | |
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We continue collecting donations of money, food and other items weekly for the West Brookfield Sharing Cupboard Food Pantry. Top priority includes non-perishable food such as regular sized (not large) canned proteins (meats or beans), dried beans, grains, peanut butter or other nut butters, powdered milk and cheese that does not have to be refrigerated, cookies, crackers, coffee, condiments (mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, etc.), canned or packaged soups. Organic is appreciated by many. Also, toilet paper and paper towels. You can also bring cleaning supplies, hand cleaners, and can openers. There is a box in our mudroom where you can drop off your contributions. Thank you in advance!
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Class schedule: Onsite and Online | |
All classes are offered onsite and online. You can enroll for the Experienced class (Friday mornings) if you know the basic poses and need little assistance. Otherwise, join the Continuing (all levels) classes. | |
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Mondays
5:30 to 7 pm Continuing Svaroopa® Yoga
Tuesdays
9:00 to 10:30 am Continuing Svaroopa® Yoga *
Wednesdays
5:00 to 6:30 pm Continuing Svaroopa® Yoga
Thursdays
9 to 10:30 am Continuing Svaroopa® Yoga *
6:30 to 8:30 pm Svaroopa® Yoga+Meditation
Fridays
10:00 to 11:30 am Experienced Svaroopa® Yoga
Saturdays
10:00 to 11:30 am Continuing Svaroopa® Yoga
* To attend Tuesday or Thursday mornings via Zoom, we prefer that you have experience with Svaroopa® yoga. If you are new, we suggest the Monday or Saturday class or start with a private session with the instructor, Phil.
To ensure a space in the studio or to obtain Zoom join information, please contact us.
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Class Fees
For in-studio and online class fees, visit our website. Pay by cash, check, Venmo (@PhilMilgrom-TCP), Zelle (philmilgrom@comcast.net) or PayPal (paypal.me/TheCenteredPlace).
Discounts are available for retired seniors. Scholarships are available for students with financial need.
Gift certificates are available. Give a loved one the gift of all gifts.
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“We come to Nancy & Phil's [The Centered Place] for yoga class whenever we are up visiting Audrey's mother in Warren. The practice there has been a place of restoration for us for over a decade. (We have even hosted group sessions for two wedding parties for our daughters the mornings of each of their weddings at Salem Cross over the years.)
Their yoga classes are like luxurious, creative, multi-course meals, prepared by two gifted chefs. With each course, we feel that we have experienced the pinnacle of physical and spiritual enjoyment only to then move to the second course... and the third... and on until the 'dessert' of the final shavasana [relaxation pose]. Like any masterfully prepared meal, we leave restored but not listless - more joyful, more capable, more eager for new learning.”
~ Eric & Audrey Schoomaker, Silver Springs, MD
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Masks Are Optional and Available at the Studio
COVID is still around. Masks are welcomed. We will wear ours. Class sizes will continue to be limited to assure social distancing in the studio. We also have plenty of air circulation and air filters.
If you feel ill, have a cough or runny nose, or might have been exposed to someone who tested positive, please do not come to the studio, even if you tested negative. Feel free to join classes via Zoom until you are symptom free.
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Scent Free Studio
Help us accommodate those who are chemically sensitive to fragrances and other scented products Thank you!
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We wish the following students and friends a very happy birthday. Those whose names are in bold are students who are currently attending classes. Wish we could embolden the rest of you!
"There are two great days in a person's life: the day we are born and the day we discover why." ~ William Barclay
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Here is a list of this month's birthdays:
Jill Devanski and Tracey Mazur (2nd), Jean McNulty (6th), Ann Auger (7th), Dianna Brothers (8th), Jessica Cournoyer (12th), Kathleen Quinn-Wild and Maureen Solomon (15th), Abby Sidur (20th), Paula Ye (22nd), Leslie Mathieson and Patty White (24th), Manisha Gupta (25th), Stephanie MacDonald (29th)
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Swami Samvidaananda at The Centered Place
Saturday, October 21
Half-Day Workshop, 9 to 1:00 pm
Free Meditation Satsang, 3:00 to 4:30 pm
Take both for a full-day experience
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Half-Day Workshop Description
If you attended Swami's half-day workshop last October here, you already know two words to describe your experience: Blissful and Restorative!
Anyone can attend this program; it’s all user-friendly while being deeply effective and profoundly nourishing. The program includes three hours of gentle yoga poses plus an hour that includes a discourse, chanting and meditation. Swami includes meditation instruction along with personal attention for your yoga poses for maximum benefit.
Free Meditation Satsang Description
Experience deep meditation that is made easily accessible. The satsang program includes a discourse as well as group chanting and meditation. If you are new to this, Swami Samvidaananda makes it easy for you. Allow her to show you the truth of the highest teachings, as she guides you to the experience of your own Divine Essence.
About Swami Samvidaananda
Swami Samvidaananda is a monk in the ancient Saraswati order. She shares her incredible knowledge in a personal way through her humour as well as her caring presence. Her programs are always wonderfully deep, supportive and life changing.
Swami's name, Samvidaananda, means "the bliss of the mystical heart of Consciousness." Swami Nirmalananda gave her this name because she puts her heart into everything she does. Teaching yoga and meditation is a joy for her as well as a calling.
"Swami Samvidaananda teaches with such Grace and ease. It's easy to follow her, and I have such deep experiences." ~ Kelly S.
"Swami Samvidaananda is a wonderful teacher who teaches with clarity. Grace permeated the program, and her discourse was engaging and inspirational. I felt uplifted and deeply established in Self at the end of the program." ~ Nansi C.
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Warren Townwide Yard Sale ~
Our front yard included!
Saturday, September 9th, 8 am to 4 pm
The Centered Place
286 Bridge Street
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Saturday's morning class is being shifted to Sunday this weekend to make room for our yard sale. We have much to offer, including:
- Digital piano (88 full-size keys) plus stand, sustain pedal and metronome
- Drafting table with swivel chair
- Duraflame electric freestanding infrared heater
- Brand new percussion massager with several accessories for different effects
- Pressure cooker
- Brand new Instapot with complete accessories
- Brand new Cuisinart 4-cup chopper/grinder
- Additional variety of pots and pans and other kitchen items
- Medcline sleep system for reflux, including wedge, body pillow, insert pillow
- Books
- And much more
10% of all earnings at our yard sale go to this month's fundraiser for the
Hawaii Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund (disaster relief)
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Support Wendy Bolognesi's PAN-MASS Challenge Bike Ride for Cancer Research and Treatment | |
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Wendy Bolognesi of Hardwick MA, a long-time friend, former yoga student and wonderful massage/Shiatsu therapist and teacher, rode the PAN-MASS Challenge in memory of her father, her dear friend Sandy and the many who have lost to cancer. She also rode because her brother-in-law has been helped by Dana Farber. Wendy saw that cancer treatments are becoming more effective and quality of life during treatment is being given more respect.
She also rode to grow stronger and be well so that she can continue helping others. She aims to raise $2000.
Last year, 100% of rider-raised revenue went directly to support the Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber Cancer Institute's tireless commitment to find a cancer cure and reduce the burden of cancer.
Donations are accepted through October.
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Bike Ride for Local Land Conservation
Sunday, September 17th
Deadline to get a food ticket and discounted registration:
Saturday, September 9th
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Enjoy a great ride and support a great cause!
Six beautiful routes to choose from, for all ages and abilities: 2 miles, 10 miles, 27 miles, 50 miles, 77 miles or 100 miles. All routes take you along beautiful country roads that are paved and well-marked, and past properties that Opacum Land Trust has conserved.
The start and finish of the tour is at the Brimfield Winery, where there will be an after-party with live music, food, craft beer, wine, games and more. There are non-alcoholic and vegetarian options. Note: Opacum has committed to upgrade the quality of the food this year. They will have a buffet for the after-party. You must purchase a food ticket when you register.
Proceeds from the ride help Opacum Land Trust protect critical land, water and wildlife, and provide outdoor spaces for everyone to enjoy.
You can donate to Opacum Land Trust without riding:
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Volunteers need! Contact Amy Adams, Communications Assistant
Amy's email
Phone
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The Centered Place is co-sponsoring the event and has a registered team
We are among several other businesses sponsoring the event. The full list of sponsors is at
https://touropacum.org/sponsors/
If you register for the event, you can indicate you are a member of The Centered Place's team and ride with Phil and other students. No obligation: you are free to choose any route and go on your own way at your own pace, or join another group you know of. Phil usually does the 27 mile route but could take the 10 mile route instead (the starting times for these two routes are 15 minutes apart). Phil's choice of route depends on what the group prefers. Hope you can come for the pleasure of the ride, company of friends, and knowing you are supporting a good cause!
For more information about Opacum and how to register, visit www.TourOpacum.org
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Freebies and Other Offerings from Swami Nirmalananda and the Ashram | |
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Free audio recordings of Swami Nirmalananda discourses are available online. Listen from home or during your travels. Listen
from your cell phone or PC at https://svaroopa.org/audio-recording
You can also join Swami Nirmalananda online in meditation every morning, by subscription.
New! Swami has a new book titled Yoga: Embodied Spirituality, subtitled Navigating the Inner Quest for Wholeness. The book is available in Kindle or as a paperback at https://svaroopa.org/books
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Wisdom to Live By: Connection | |
"Make your life spiritual. Bring your Self with you everywhere you go. Spiritual doesn't mean you add spirituality to your life. Spiritual means your spirit shines through - your Essence and Beingness. Not only do you experience joyfulness and peace, you share it." | |
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"While poses and yogic breathing improve your body, the most delicious effect is on your mind. It begins with inner bliss. It develops into ongoing peace and an inner spaciousness."
"While yoga poses and breathing practices do help, it is the deeper inner experience that makes the biggest difference. When you use poses and yogic breathing as the ancient system reommends, they dissolve deep physical tensions as well as mental-emotional reactivity. As these dissolve, your deeper essence is revealed, called svaroopa in Sanskrit, meaning your own capital-S Self. Svaroopa is your own Divine Essence, the source of all healing, creativity, love and joy."
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Enjoy the time of your Life!
Now is it - every Now.
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As always, some of these wisdom graphics and the cartoons below, come from Kelly (Kushala) Kelly's daily emails. She is a Svaroopa® yoga teacher in Delaware. Thank you, Kushala. You are God's messenger! | |
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Little League baseball players with Big League hearts
[1.19 minutes]
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A Little League pitcher accidentally hits the batter in the head. Luckily, the ball hits the batter's helmet. The batter is shaken up but ok. Watch
the responses of the players involved. Every time I watch this, I am brought to tears. Here is love, compassion, sportsmanship and true maturity.
"So much going "right" in this clip! The catcher checking on the injured batter. The batter checking on the upset pitcher. The pitcher not wanting to hurt an opponent. Fantastic sportsmanship and character!"
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You know it's hot when:
- Birds are using potholders to pull worms out of the ground
- The best parking space is determined by shade rather than distance
- You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
- Potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull them out and add butter and salt.
- Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
- Cows are giving evaporated milk.
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"Sunday after church a mom asked her very young daughter what the lesson was about.
The daughter answered, "Don't be scared, you'll get your blanket."
Needless to say, the mom was perplexed.
Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the mom asked him what that morning's Sunday school lesson was about.
He said, "Be not afraid, thy comforter is coming."
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Did you know August 8th was National Sneak Some Zucchini on Your Neighbor's Porch Day? We did! | | |
Thanks to Marie Thibault for this Oooom Cartoon! | |
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