Didi Lalita, Special Guest Teacher at Lotus and Leadership Groups

Both the Lotus Groups (every other Wednesday and Saturday) and the Leadership meeting are enjoying the teachings of Didi Lalita from Ananda Dhiira, Center for Spirituality and Well Being.

In the Wednesday Lotus Group, Didi is leading the Tao Te Ching discussions. She reads a chapter in Mandarin and the scholars often echo the chapter back to her in English from one of the many translations and versions that we have discovered.  The text that Shih Fu Eileen prefers is by Jane English and Gia Fu Feng. We have also delved into Stephen Mitchell's version.

Didi is adept at drawing out our personal understandings of the text.  It is a joy to hear her read in Mandarin. Hearing the chapters in their original language seems to preserve the poetry in a special way.

At a previous meeting, Didi shared with us a bit about her own story.  She and other "sisters" are restoring their property on Kentucky Creek near Bridgeport Crossing on the South Yuba River. Ananda Dhiira is home to regular yoga and meditation retreats, as well as permaculture and nature workshops.

There will be some upcoming workdays where you can roll up your sleeves and pitch in to continue with Ananda Dhiira's award-winning conservation and restoration of the land.  They were named "Conservationist of the Year 2007" for Nevada County. If you are interested to learn more, please call 530 432 3618 or send an email to info-at-anandadhiira.net and one of the didis will get back to you!

Perhaps someone from the Saturday Lotus Group can comment on what's happening at those meetings!

Wednesday April 27th, please bring your Tao Te Ching writing to share with the group.

Didi Lalita returns on May 4th. Come prepared with your responses to Chapters 37 and 41.

PS, At last week's Wednesday Lotus Meeting, Didi Lalita recommended this movie:


Life After Life
The LIFE AFTER LIFE film is the result of an ongoing labor of love in the most literal sense as its timeless message is of God's Infinite Compassion. The amazing collection of real-life testimonials were selected from thousands of cases, and are the culmination of years of research, publications, books and specialized media-training by a broad spectrum of contributors. Here you can watch some behind-the-scene glimpses of what eventually culminated in the film version of LIFE AFTER LIFE.