(updated 5/1/21)
Letter from Rev. Sundari Jensen
Take heart by noticing the good. Talk about it. Magnify it. Look for it.
—Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian
I am grateful for Yogacharya’s reminder that even amidst local and global turmoil, there is good in the world, that the Divine is ever-present with saving grace as we turn our attention to it. She goes on to encourage us to “Share it, give it attention, and build on it.”
We are blessed to be reminded of these truths and encouraged to actively participate in this awakening world by keeping our consciousness elevated, noticing the good, and sharing it with others — all of which is especially important right now.
I’m reaching out to you today with an invitation to help us build on the good by participating in CSE’s Annual Appeal. Funds raised support essential programs and services and expand our capacity to offer life-transforming messages of peace and healing. Our Annual Appeal goal is $108,000.
We are already halfway there. We have received $54,000 seed money from our community, leaving just $54,000 to realize our goal.
We are taking steps towards offering programs onsite at the Center as soon as it is viable. The funds from this Annual Appeal will support us to do that as well as improve our ability to serve our growing online global community with updated audio-visual equipment in the Temple and the Meditation Hall. Our equipment has not been updated for years. It is time.
Coming soon! Our first step on site will be for Yogacharya O’Brian and CSE Ministers to stream programs from CSE while participants tune in online. When the time is right, our second step will be to offer outdoor gatherings at the Center. We are redesigning the area under the oak tree to provide a space for stable seating in support of this. We hope to return to a sense of normalcy with onsite programs by this fall, if not before.
Use the links below to give as you are inspired. Any amount, large or small, goes a long way to support our ongoing efforts to serve people near and far. (CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE)
Thank you to everyone who has already contributed. We are thinking of you, of the global community we are all a part of, and of the opportunity we have to respond to the most pressing needs of our time. Thank you for the compassionate light you shine into the world today. It matters.
Blessings,
Rev. Sundari Jensen
CSE Executive Minister
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(updated 10/17/20)
Letter from Rev. Sundari Jensen
“Practice meditation. You’ll find that you are carrying within your heart, a portable paradise.” —Paramahansa Yogananda
I am writing with greetings of love and peace, and to share important updates.
Like many of you, Yogacharya O'Brian and I continue to closely track Santa Clara County developments and guidelines concerning COVID-19.
While we are beginning to see progress regarding case numbers and positivity rates in Santa Clara County, there are still significant restrictions and protocols that are required for spiritual centers. Given the extensive health and safety requirements due to COVID-19, it is necessary for us to continue to offer our programs online only.
Therefore, we have extended postponement of all in-person programs and services at the Center through June of 2021.
There will be no in-person programs, worship services, or events at the Center through June of 2021.
While being online has been a blessing in that we are able to reach hundreds of people from across the nation and around the world each week, it has also been a challenge given our outdated technology. We are addressing these needs by exploring our options for transforming our website and upgrading our technology.
Additionally, even though we are not currently having programs onsite, we continue to care for our beautiful property and meditation gardens. One of the current priorities that we are addressing is securing the property by installing new perimeter fencing. We are also taking this time to assess and repair our irrigation system throughout the property, care for our garden fountains, and attend to ongoing facilities care such as plumbing and deep cleaning.
We will continue with our extensive current online offerings and will be introduce more programs and community support services soon.
Your support, prayers, and spiritual connection to the Center has meant everything to us during this time. It is inspiring to see so many tuned in for Sunday Satsang, morning meditation, and other programs. And, of course, we are grateful for your generous financial support. Thank you.
Wishing you continued well-being, peace, and spiritual strength.
With deepest appreciation,
Rev. Sundari Jensen
CSE Executive Minister
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(updated 6/12/20)
Letter from Rev. Sundari Jensen
One who is established in the virtue of harmlessness is free from enmity.
—Yoga Sutra 2:35
Dear CSE Community,
I’m writing with greetings of love and peace, and to share important updates.
Like many of you, Yogacharya O'Brian and I continue to closely track Santa Clara County developments and guidelines around COVID-19.
While faith based communities and spiritual centers can begin to open in Santa Clara County, there are significant restrictions and protocols that are attached to that. We have carefully assessed it, and neither our facility nor our staff can support the protocols that would be needed to ensure the well-being of participants.
Therefore, following our first precept of Ahimsa (harmlessness), we have extended postponement of all in-person programs and services at the Center until January of 2021.
There will be no in-person programs, worship services, or events at the Center until January of 2021.
We’re so pleased with the reception to the online offerings and the way that so many of you are participating. We’ll continue with our current online offerings, and will be introducing more programs and community support services.
We look forward to the time when we can safely reopen and we know that there will be lasting positive benefit from all of the capacities that we are putting in place through our online programs.
Our Center staff continues to work diligently to support you in the highest way with extensive online programs and services.
Your support, prayers, and spiritual connection to the Center has meant everything to us during this time. It has been inspiring to see so many tuned in for Sunday Satsang, morning meditation, and other programs. And, of course, we are grateful for your generous financial support.
Wishing you continued well-being, peace, and spiritual strength.
Thank you,
Rev. Sundari Jensen
CSE Executive Minister
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(updated 4/04/20)
Letter from Rev. Sundari Jensen
Let us meditate upon Higher Truth and let That inspire our thoughts and actions.
—Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
Dear CSE Community,
I’m writing with greetings of love and peace, and to share important updates. As Yogacharya O’Brian and I have continued to closely track new developments around COVID-19, and following the Santa Clara County Public Health updated guidelines to close public facilities and extend the stay at home order, we have decided to close the CSE Meditation Gardens and extend postponement of all in-person programs and services at the Center until June 1st.
Effective until June 1, 2020 the CSE Meditation Gardens are closed, and there will be no in-person programs, worship services, or events at the Center.
Our Center staff is in full force and following the County guidelines as we continue to work diligently to support you in the highest way with extensive online programs and services in place, and more coming.
As Executive Director, I continue to follow leads on grants and federal funding so we are able to continue paying our staff during this time. And, of course, we are grateful for your generous support.
We continue to offer Sunday Satsang with Yogacharya O'Brian weekly, and we've recently added new web pages with videos from Yogacharya.
- Sunday Satsang with Yogacharya (10am weekly)
- Messages from Yogacharya
- Guided Meditation with Yogacharya
Starting April 15th we will begin offering Online Morning Puja & Meditation with Yogacharya and CSE Leaders, daily at 6:30am.
In the weeks ahead we will move toward offering even more programs and services online. Visit our Online Programs web page for the most current list of programs.
Please do continue to follow the guidelines set forth by SCC Health Department that were outlined in our previous communications. Wishing you continued well-being, peace, and spiritual strength.
Thank you,
Rev. Sundari Jensen
CSE Executive Minister
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(updated 3/13/20)
Letter from Yogacharya O'Brian
Wisdom is the greatest cleanser.
—Swami Sri Yukteswar
Beloved Friend,
By now, you should have received the updated news that we are closing the Center’s onsite programs until May 1st and increasing the capacity and breadth of online offerings.
No one can argue that we are living in an extraordinary time—a time that raises the critically important imperative for individual and planetary awakening. At the Center, we have been reflecting on several questions: How do we rise to meet the need of this time? How do we respond to the growing health concerns in the larger community while remaining true to our core spiritual beliefs? These questions are relevant to us all.
I have no doubt that the enlightened spiritual masters in our Kriya Yoga tradition would offer this sage advice for us: keep it simple. Keep it simple and stay anchored in the awareness of your essential Self. Yoga—conscious union with the divine Self—is skill in action. That skill supports living from the inside out, rather than from the outside in. It is the ability to be guided by wisdom rather than by the stress and sway of external conditions.
At the Center, keeping it simple and acting skillfully means choosing to meet growing needs for inspiration and spiritual support by building on our online capacity to make all our programs more widely accessible. In this time of “social distancing,” we will strengthen “spiritual connecting.” I am so grateful we can do this. We have all we need to move forward with wisdom, courage, tenacity, and an abundance of grace.
May we all focus on keeping it simple by doing what we can to reduce stress and enhance spiritual awareness. I look forward to being with you online in the days ahead.
With infinite love and blessings,
Yogacharya
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
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(updated 3/12/20)
Letter from Rev. Sundari Jensen
Dear CSE Community,
I greet you with love and peace, especially in this time of uncertainty regarding the spread of COVID-19. I’m writing with an important update about how we are addressing the call to slow the spread, reduce the number of people infected, and, especially, protect those who are most vulnerable.
Yogacharya O’Brian and I have continued to closely track new developments around COVID-19 with updates from the State and County departments of public health. Following the Santa Clara County Public Health guidelines to cancel all nonessential events, and Yogacharya’s guidance to “keep it simple” at this time in order to remove the stress of reevaluating day by day, we have decided to postpone all in-person programs and services at the Center.
Effective March 13 until May 1, 2020 there will be no in-person programs, worship services, or events at the Center.
Our Center staff is working diligently to support you in the highest way. We will use this time as a precious opportunity to expand our online service capacities. Over the next several days and weeks, we will be coming up to speed in several areas, watch for updates.
The following programs and services will be offered online immediately.
- Sunday Services
- Silent Meditation Retreat
- Mid-week classes
- Vedic Counseling & Spiritual Direction
In the weeks ahead we will move toward offering more programs and services online. Visit our CSE COVID-19 Updates webpage for the most current status of our programs, services, and links with more information about how to stay connected in community.
Please do continue to follow the guidelines set forth by SCC Health Department that were outlined in our previous communication. Wishing you continued well-being, peace, and spiritual strength.
Thank you,
Rev. Sundari Jensen
CSE Executive Minister
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(updated 3/10/20)
Letter from Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
Life is always unsafe and unstable, like a drop of water on a lotus leaf.
The company of a divine personage, even for a moment, can save and redeem us.
—Adi Shankaracharya
Beloved Friends,
The above quote from Shankaracharya is poignantly positioned as the final words offered by Swami Sri Yukteswar in his seminal text, The Holy Science. Throughout that concise and profound book, my spiritual great-grandfather draws the reader into the heart of spiritual truth like a divine compass. Whether we approach the divine One from the East or the West, that unchanging, ever-supportive Reality is always right where we are. The blessing of the divine ones—the spiritual teachers in our life—is that they reveal this truth to us. In their company, we realize it and we are never the same. We are equipped to walk through the world of changing conditions without losing our balance.
Paramahansa Yogananda famously said, “A yogi stands firm amidst bursting worlds.” I remember my guru chuckling a little as he recounted that, noting Yoganandaji had a gift for powerful communication. How meaningful those words are to us today as we grapple with our response to a global pandemic and its many implications. In such a time, life can surely feel unsafe and unstable. Yet, our spiritual tradition reminds us that we can anchor our awareness in the divine truth of our being. We have been gifted with many ways to do that.
Amid ever-evolving travel advisories, I decided to return to the US last week. It became necessary to cancel programs in two cities in Italy and to forgo attending the dharma conference in India. I am well, but because I had been in Italy, I have been undergoing a cautionary self-imposed home quarantine. I have another week to go, and then I expect to return to scheduled programs at the Center. I’m grateful for the ongoing diligence of our Center staff for all the health protocols they have implemented.
Thanks to technology, I am meeting daily with Rev. Sundari Jensen, CSE’s Executive Director, to guide and determine the Center’s next steps in response to unfolding developments in the greater community. Our mission is to be an oasis of peace in service of individual and planetary awakening, always. We will continue to hold that as our guiding light as we discern how to best serve during this time. We will keep you informed and updated on a regular basis.
Just as we turn to the news daily for the latest developments in our community and world, we must also turn within through prayer and meditation to stay anchored in the divine. There is much we do not know right now about external conditions. Yet, there is much we do know about how to stay actively calm in times of stress and uncertainty. We know we can anchor our attention in the peace of the soul. We know we can redirect our thoughts. We know that fear contracts the body and mind, closes us down, and negatively impacts well-being. We know that love expands us and shows us possibilities. We know that every challenge holds a healing promise, and this time surely does.
Sri Yukteswar prefaced his inclusion of the quote from Shankaracharya by saying: This little volume is therefore concluded with an earnest exhortation to the reader never to forget the great goal of life.
May we each anchor our awareness in spiritual truth, return to love and let it lead.
Anchored in the divine,
Uma
Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian
CSE Founder & Spiritual Director
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(updated 3/05/20)
Update from Rev. Sundari Jensen
If thoughts of worry, fear, or frustration arise in your mind, practice taking a “prayer moment” of remembrance. Recall that divine grace is already at work in your life.
—Yogacharya O'Brian
Dear CSE Community,
I greet you with love and peace, especially in this time of heightened concern over the recent spread of Covid19. I thought you’d like to know what we are doing here at CSE support a healthy environment for attendance at our programs.
We have been closely tracking new developments around COVID-19 and following updates from the State and County departments of public health.
We are assessing the situation daily, and are prepared to make changes should the situation evolve. In the meantime, we have taken several extra measures to help everyone stay healthy and minimize the spread of transmissible diseases:
- We have asked our staff and leaders to disinfect door knobs, light switches and other surfaces daily.
- We will further amplify incorporating good hygiene practices into our youth education programs.
- Last Sunday our youth minister, Rev. Fritchle, offered a teaching on the koshas and taught the youth how to care for the body and included a practice of how to wash hands for 20 seconds.
We have increased access to sanitizers in all buildings. - We will be posting proper hand washing signage — as well as handwashing reminders — and reminders for good hygiene practices in general.
- We are offering coffee and tea during fellowship time, and not offering finger foods.
- We are sanitizing all of our shared hatha yoga equipment.
As a reminder, it is very important that we all:
- Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or a flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing.
- Stay home when you are sick, especially if you have experienced a fever or flu-like symptoms.
- Make use of hand sanitizer.
- Throw used tissues into a bin immediately after use.
- Wash your hands thoroughly.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
- Try to avoid touching your face, nose, and mouth.
We are a very welcoming community. For the time being however, we encourage you to refrain from physical greetings, such as hand shakes and hugging.
Part of our mission is to keep our community healthy. Please help us by following these best practices.
If you do need to stay home you can join our CSE online community for live streaming of worship service each Sunday at 10am by clicking here.
Thank you,
Rev. Sundari Jensen
CSE Executive Minister
