Service Adventure Club

Life is nothing if not an adventure. Each new day brings opportunities to explore the vast landscape of life. How we spend our time reveals much about who we are and where we’re going, and our attitudes and approach to life often determine the pace and rhythm at which we get there. Swami Kriyananda wrote “Life is a great adventure. Look around you: There are trails leading off in all directions to new discoveries!” 

Where will we go and what will we discover? How to know which trail to take? One of the greatest trails is service to others. As long as we limit our life’s experiences to our own little world and life, we curtail the potential for our own expansion and growth. While some exceptional person might achieve great money, fame or success, life will remain somehow empty without a meaningful way to give back in service to others. Not only a principle of life, service or seva is a powerful spiritual practice to expand from ego to Spirit consciousness. Seeing and serving God in others opens the heart and expands the mind. Then helping others enriches our experiences and fosters joyful self discovery.

At Ananda Portland we are blazing a new trail of discovery with our Service Adventure Club. The inspiration includes working with some of the children in our Sangha to put these principles into practice: seeking adventure and service consciously in our community together. With a little yoga and meditation practice as our foundation, we’ll partner with local non-profits to volunteer our time and energy to help others. We’ll also explore the wonders of the natural world together and foster a sense of joyful discovery and awe. And we’ll do it as a community, a Sangha in the sense of a spiritual family with bonds of kindness, respect and love.

Our first adventure includes an invitation to our broader Sangha to join us in volunteering at HomePlate Youth Services, our next door neighbors to the Ananda Portland Temple in Beaverton. We’ll be preparing and serving meals for up to 40 youths experiencing instability in their lives–all with a spirit of loving service and joy. Consider supporting this effort by volunteering your time or helping with resources to feed these hungry kids–but only if you feel the call of adventure! Click here to answer the call and serve with us 🙂

The most meaningful experiences of life are never scripted. They come from an unwritten story of magic and love which interconnects everything in this world. When we expand ourselves in service to others, in a spirit of adventure and self-discovery, our own story gets so much more interesting, fulfilling and fun.