More photos from the January 1998 newsletter:
(You may view larger versions of all images on a single page.)

		Meditation with Divine Mother Audrey on Maui.  Back row: Sudir Mehta, James Tamashiro and Lloyd Nakamura, front row: Tatou Mehta, Jan Tamashiro and Cheryl Asato.
		Joining Divine Mother Audrey at the Maui meditation was Tom and Nellie Taise.  The spiritual family sang "Happy Birthday" and had cake with Tom on his birthday.
		Roberta, John and Sarah Christianson happily work on mailing out the Christmas newsletter.

Holiday Celebration in Honolulu

     James and Jan Tamashiro, Lloyd and Becky Nakamura, and Cheryl Asato from Los Angeles, Ted and Wendy Kanamori and their children from Maui, Tatou Mehta from New Jersey, Sudhir Mehta from Jakarta and Michael Mansfield from Minnesota, came to Honolulu to celebrate the holidays. Special meditations were held while they were in town, and the New Year was welcomed in with the spiritual family meditating. Thank you for travelling from far away places to make this time together so special!
     All of the out of towners and many other members of the spiritual family went to Ted and Wendy Kanamori's home on Kula, Maui for more meditation on January 3rd and 4th. The Kanamori's are always such gracious and generous hosts. Thank you, Ted and Wendy! The spiritual family also celebrated Tom Taise's 78th birthday on Maui. Tom said, "This is my best birthday ever! I am grateful to God for all of the changes in my life."

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!  WELCOME 1998

     The cusp that exists between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year is a gentle twilight that draws us into its folds for quiet, deep reflection. It is usually the time we commit to making changes and improvements within ourselves so our lives may become more meaningful and worthwhile. It is easy to get caught in the daily busyness of work and routines that blur the days together into a fog of forgetting.
     Meditation provides us with the opportunity to return to ourselves, to the spirit within us that is the source of our renewal and guidance. Each moment that we live is the grace of God, the very breath we take, the breath of God. Let us spend this time to review the past year, and see all of the changes that have taken place within our lives; remarkable changes.
     I see the beautiful faces of the spiritual family. Each face unique, and the unforgettable eyes that are the windows to the heart of each person. I see the blazing love of God behind the veils of fear, loneliness, sadness, anger and pain, and I rejoice in the knowing that each person will plumb the depths of his or her heart to eventually reach this pure love.
     I recall those blessed ones who could not even stand to see themselves in the mirror, now finding self acceptance, and self approval; the ones who were so shut down, now blossoming and speaking up; the ones who were so far away from their feelings, now shedding tears and dropping their armor; the ones who were trapped in dark secrets, now free from the power of the secrets; the ones who were being abused and were perpetrators of abuse, now finding their dignity and self respect; the ones who held resolutely to old habits and mental conditioning, now letting go of their rigidity.
     I treasure those moments of sharing where we laid bare our hearts, and pretense fell away. All that remained was raw courage to trust that the compassion in each person's heart bearing witness to the sharing would reach out and surround those present, and it did. Our capacity to love and to express love is so infinite and grand! Everywhere people are looking for this love, and the intimacy that comes from such honesty and genuineness. I bow my head, and am humbled by these courageous souls who deepen our love, and help to create an ever increasing potential within the spiritual family to provide this love to others.
     Divine Mother told me at my first meeting with her, "Don't sit on the sidewalk." I understood that she did not want us to stagnate, or to become complacent in our spiritual growth. Life is continuous, and we must ever expand our consciousness into the infinite realm of the divine. This is made possible through love and devotion to God.
     In the beautiful poem, the Bhagavad Gita, in the discourse between Lord Krishna and his friend, Arjuna, Sri Krishna answers Arjuna's question posed to Him as follows:

A man should not hate any living creature. Let him be friendly and compassionate to all. He must free himself from the delusion of "I" and "mine." He must accept pleasure and pain with equal tranquility. He must be forgiving, ever contented, self-controlled, united constantly with Me in meditation. His resolve must be unshakable. He must be dedicated to Me in intellect and in mind. Such a devotee is dear to Me...

His mind is fixed upon Me, and his heart is full of devotion. He is dear to Me...

...Regard Me as your dearest loved one. Know Me to be your only refuge. Be united always in heart and consciousness with Me...

     It is easy to lose sight of our priorities as we become immersed in the hustle and bustle of daily life, and the mind strives to acquire the fruits of creation. But, in that twilight between the old and new year, between the dusk and dawn of each passing day, let the fire of God's love that burns within our hearts propel us to seek eternal union with Him. God's pure love draws us into Him, like the inexplicable magnet that draws the moth to the flame, and extinguishes its separateness from that light by merging into it.
     May l998 and every year be a celebration of the beautiful dance that moves us closer and closer to God realization. May each experience that the new year brings become stepping stones to ever greater love. Happy New Year!

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All my life I procrastinated by not doing many small and a few big things in life. The main reason I procrastinated was my fear of failure- fear of losing what I had and fear of getting what I didn't want. Yet Audrey and Divine Mother have been so gracious to give me a wonderful taste of the joy and inner peace that comes through accepting all that happens in life even losing my job. As a result, my new year resolution is to be proactive in daily life to practice love and devotion to God by doing small and big things cheerfully, thoroughly, quickly, and with humilty.

Brent Kunimoto
Honolulu, HI

Make God first and love Him. Practice humility, acceptance and flexibility. Take responsibility. Speak the truth with love and compassion. Share Audrey's infinite love with everyone.

Cheryl Asato
Torrance, CA

I resolve to choose love in each moment.

Casey Herrera
San Francisco, CA

To practice forgiveness and to see God's hand in every moment of my life

Alan Suemori
Honolulu, HI

To have Divine Mother and Audrey with me in my daily life.

Walter Oshiro
Honolulu, HI

Be a good example of having Divine Mother's love by always being joyful.

Charlotte Ichiyama
Honlolulu, HI

Change myself more and more by love and devotion to Divine Mother.

Ann Rubendall
Honolulu, HI

Be strong in God and to continue practicing to speak the Truth and not pamper the ego.

Esther Ueda
Honolulu, HI

I resolve to keep doing the self examination, get in touch with my feelings and be more "in the moment"- because I know that in order to serve Audrey and shine Divine Mother's light, I must be purified; and the purification comes, in part, from the discipline of truth-seeking and spiritual practice.

Kay Day
Honolulu, HI

To always love and make God first and to practice love and devotion. Also, to give love to my daughters.

Dorothy Nomura
Honolulu, HI

To listen with my heart, acknowledge feelings (my own, as well as others), and to speak heart to heart.

Jan Yuen
Honolulu, HI

I resolve to practice to be true to my Godself and to refrain from being a people pleaser.

Edith Higa
Honolulu, HI

Be alert, (be in the moment), and do not procrastinate.

Hiroko Fujimoto
Honolulu, HI

My resolution is to support and serve Audrey and give love with compassion and understanding to my husband, my children, and those around me. Thank you God and Divine Mother for the realization, and the opportunity to do this.

Jan Oto
Honolulu, HI

Be able to speak the truth in the moment.

Elaine Ogata
Honolulu, HI

I resolve to love Mother more!

Fran Kawamura
Honolulu, HI

Practice, practice, practice.

Jeanne Petroff
Honolulu, HI

Since coming to the path I have grown in awareness and compassion. Reflecting back I am grateful for the changes in my life, a feeling shared by those closest to me who knew me before, specifically, my wife and children. This year has been significant for the intensity of self examination, and getting in touch with past and current feelings. Thank you for your guidance. With this painfully honest look at my past and current abusive treatment and behavior, I can no longer act this way. I resolve to change my abusive behavior pattern, replacing it with more wholesome behavior. This is becoming possible with the help of God. Thank you.

David Farkash
Honolulu, HI

My New Year's resolution is to practice non-reactivity.

Jim Petroff
Honolulu, HI

I resolve this New Year to cultivate humility and flexibility, true love, devotion and gratitude to God first.

Joyce Volen
Loomis, CA

My New Year's resolution is to listen to my heart. By following the voice of God in my heart, I can be free of the tendencies of being swayed by outside influences.

Bob Meagher
Honolulu, HI

Make God first in my daily life, Love Him.

Alma Yamamoto
Torrance, CA

I will share each awareness as it comes up and not withhold anything. I will dive deep and share whatever is inside of me.

Claudia Evenschor-Dunham
Honolulu, HI

By the will of God, Divine Mother's grace, and the light of Audrey's guidance, I resolve to get up off the floor, stay off the floor and live my life with dignity and self respect and become a better example for my children.

Mary Farkash
Honolulu, HI

I commit to change by practicing and concentrating on God with love and devotion, by telling the truth; remembering time and place, by listening with my heart and saying, "Yes, thank you."

Leni Davis
Honolulu, HI

With Divine Mother's grace, I resolve to be a better example for Sri Ramakrishna.

Diane Teramoto
Honolulu, HI

To praise God for everything; good or bad, right or wrong.

Lois Suemori
Honolulu, HI

To love God first, each day putting my head on the floor, offering all my concerns to Divine Mother, asking her to grant awareness and a humble heart full of love and devotion, so I can listen to her in my heart, and follow her will, not mine.

Ken Johnson
Honolulu, HI

I will face the new year with a grateful heart and enjoy each day as a special day that Divine Mother had planned just for me.

Kay Tanaka
Los Angeles, CA

To love and support Audrey first, to be grateful, humble and willing to change, and to shine the light through example.

Nolan Tamashiro
Torrance, CA

To ask for more humility that I may truly give up having things my way and to acccept the way God wants it to be. Let it be. Thank you Divine Mother and Audrey for restoring my life.

Sharoh Moore
Honolulu, HI

I would like to have a kind and compassionate heart and have feelings for others rather than being focused on my little, ego self. Thank you, Audrey, for showing us the way.

Janet Yoshimura
Honolulu, HI

To be truthful, respect my Godself, and above all, practice loving and being grateful to Divine Mother.

Soozi Kawakami
Honolulu, HI

With all my heart I will practice being "shan-shan" (i.e. "just do it") as opposed to procrastinating.

Elizabeth Kunimoto
Honolulu, HI

The prescriptions given to us are so precious and personalized. Thank you. I will keep the prescriptions in my heart and continue to practice throughout the year.

Marion Iwata
Honolulu, HI

To tell the truth in the moment with humility. Thank you so much Divine Mother and Audrey for your deep love which is helping me to face myself and my past actions.

Bonnie Tristan
Honolulu, HI

Practice speaking the truth on how I feel "in the moment." I feel by doing this, I can respect my Godself more and more which I could never have done without Sri Ramakrishna, Divine Mother and Audrey. I know then that I can support Audrey more and love Divine Mother as much as she loves me.

Ted Kanamori
Kula, Maui

To do my one-third with gratefulness and joy so that Audrey can go out into the world and give her precious energy to the millions who need her and Divine Mother. Thank you, Divine Mother for leaving us Audrey.

Wendy Kanamori
Kula, Maui

To apply all the spiritual awareness I have received to my daily life, consistently. I feel I have received so mych from both Divine Mother and Audrey that it's about time I start giving back.

David Tamashiro
Torrance, CA

To practice true devotion to Divine Mother by accepting everything that happens in my life.

Andrew Tamashiro
Torrance, CA

To have more compassion for everyone.

Nelson Nomi
Honolulu, HI

To love God first, and to practice patience, love and surrender.

Edna Kajiwara
Honolulu, HI

To practice making God first.

Ryan Nomi
Honolulu, HI

I resolve to be more "God centered" in my life; to put a conscious effort to put God, and the spiritual family in my heart, especially during times of stress, anger, and fear so my wife, children and others who come into contact with me will feel God's light, love and blessings. I also resolve to let God work through my music to create songs that will touch people's hearts and shine God's love.

Jeffery Yota
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

To understand more and lose the desire to be understood.

Lane Nakamura
Redondo Beach, CA

To love God with my whole heart, to be less stubborn, to be more willing to change, and to trust my heart.

Suzie Nakao
Fountain Valley, CA

To assume responsibility and change the many habits and conditionings.

Adrienne Hosokawa
Honolulu, HI

To be in God's love and peace in devotionand  gratefulness.

Helen Kaprielian
Redwood City, CA

I am willing to hold onto Divine Mother and listen with my heart and let her reveal to me what I need to know.

Mae Nakao
Fountain Valley, CA

To smile more. My smile is a way to show how grateful I am to have met Divine Mother, and to experience God's pure love through her and Audrey.

Moon Otter
Los Angeles, CA

To always live in the moment and let go and let God. God is to Doer, not us. I have finally experienced this and know it is the truth.

Linda Livingston
Marina del Rey, CA

To remember myself when doing things for others. I need to realize that before I can help others, I need to find myself. And I know from the past years that if I remain connected to God, I will always be helped.

Jamie Kusumoto
Arcadia, CA

To do everything as if were for Audrey.

Gene Kusumoto
Arcadia, CA

I look forward to being steadfast in the truth and to be a shining example of Divine Mother's love.

Donna Kusumoto
Arcadia, CA

Just do it! This resolution will help me find more of myself and become closer to God. I am grateful to be who I am.

Mandy Kusumoto
Arcadia, CA

To focus on God within, know the truth and stand firmly in the truth.

Lanae Maeda
Torrance, CA

I will be more open and express my true feelings to my family.

Betty Shimabukuro
Torrance, CA

I resolve to be more open, compassionate, and loving.

Phil Norris
Los Angeles, CA

To be grateful to God throughout the day for the experiences and awarenesses I am receiving.

Todd Loomis
Pacific Grove, CA

To continue to let go of habits and attitudes that no longer serve me.

Laurie Moore
Los Angeles, CA

Practice to have the courage to face myself.

Carol Tsutsumi
Honolulu, HI

To stop putting myself down. Audrey, with her infinite love and kindness lit a spark of self worth within my heart, and now I want to go through life with my head up. Thank you, Audrey, for such a precious gift.

Sue Iwashita
Honolulu,HI

With so much love given to us by Audrey, we can't sit and be complacent. I ask Divine Mother for help to make us stronger in our faith, to be open in our expressions, and to have more compassion for others.

Kay Omoto
Honolulu, HI

I resolve to always treasure the love of God.

Shirley Nakachi
Honolulu, HI

I will follow my heart, and not my mind because the mind is limited and the heart is infinite.

Scott Nakachi
Honolulu, HI

To take better care of my body with healthful foods, Shaklee products, and regular exercise. With a strong, healthy body, I hope to be able to serve God with more energy and focus.

Ruby Mizue
Honolulu, HI

To be quiet; to listen for the voice of God, deep within, and to feel and bask in His everlasting and unconditional love.

Janet Lee
Palo Alto, CA

I wish to give my heart to Divine Mother with gratefulness.

Alice Oshiro
Honolulu, HI

Love and devotion to God first, head to the floor in humility, and tell the truth!

Charlie Gueco
Honolulu, HI

To continue sharing the love with my family which Divine Mother has so freely given to me. I will never forget how she freed me from worrying about my little self.

Evan Omoto
Honolulu, HI

To get off the tip of my nose and be grateful.

Mary Ann Ram
Seal Beach, CA

Keep practicing loving Divine Mother and opening my heart to her.

Raymond Kitayama
Honolulu, HI

Express my feelings more, so I can find my voice and find my Godself.

Sumiko Kono
Los Angeles, CA

Love God first, be grateful for all that I have received from Divine Mother; be humble.

Peter Valentine
Townsville, Australia

I want to say the mantra more and cultivate a more loving, humble and grateful heart. Also, I would like to be present in the moment more and to listen more attentively to others. I want to be more clear in what I am saying and less defensive about criticism of me. I want to be better at keeping in touch with friends and I would like to get a bit fitter and lose some weight as this would probably help with the wonky knee I have.

Val Valentine
Townsville, Australia

I want to shine Divine Mother's light to my family and others by practicing and being a good example of divine love.

Faith Hirayama
Los Angeles, CA

Change, tell the truth no matter what, don't be afraid, have courage and be happy.

Yvonne Kagihara
Honolulu, HI

To be able to share my feelings with my husband and my family so I may be in the moment and make God first in my life.

LeeAnn Serizawa
Los Angeles, CA

To be a better mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, employer and citizen. And I will do this by cultivating a humble heart and giving it to Divine Mother and Audrey. I will strengthen my love and devotion for God and shine the light to those that I come in contact with, by being a good example of God's love. Thank you so much Audrey for all the precious awarenesses and your pure unconditional love.

Teri Koyanagi
Los Angeles, CA

To be aware of and in touch with my inner self with Divine Mother's assistance and to put God first as I go about my daily tasks and activities.

Charlotte Yamamoto
Honolulu, HI

To cultivate true love and devotion to God, thereby enabling me to give out to others with joy in my heart.

Randy Serizawa
Los Angeles, CA

Move to the forefront with my family and specifically with my children; to speak the truth always; to respect myself; and to love god with my entire being.

Stephen Lee
Honolulu, HI

To keep speaking the truth; grow in deeper love and devotion to Divine Mother; to keep doing my one-third and to keep getting my junks out.

Sharon Tanaka
Honolulu, HI

Take more responsibility and lead a more disciplined life.

Sarah Christianson
Honolulu, HI

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Jim Petroff's Testimony

Jim Petroff at Easter, 1996.      By 1983, my thirty-five year life had become filled with anger, frustration and confusion.  I really needed God in my life, but didn't realize it.  All I knew was that I blamed external events and people for all of my troubles.   I had lifelong negative tendencies, such as a bad temper, putting my needs over those of others, quick reactivity, and a loose mouth without regard to how my words hurt others. These tendencies had brought problems into my second marriage and my heart to a state of despair. Through God's grace, this was the year that I met Divine Mother, who unlocked my heart to God's divine love. She set me on this beautiful and often tumultuous journey back to my Godself.      I had a successful engineering career that led me from Ohio , to Los Angeles where I met my wife Jeanne, to Hawaii . However, only two years into the Hawaii job, my inability to react calmly to life's situations finally forced a resignation from my employer with no other job in sight. Anger hardly describes my feelings at that time feelings of how I had been "wronged" by a job asking too much of me. I felt so worn down and stressed out that I needed a long break. I took a year off. It was during this time that I met Divine Mother.      At the first meeting, Divine Mother asked me questions about many things. She talked about Sri Ramakrishna and showed me a Time magazine article written about Him. We then meditated. Afterwards, she took my hand, led me outside, and said, "Look at the trees! Look at the sky! Look, everything has changed now!" Today, I can attest to the vast, comprehensive truth of her statement. In fact, I never could have comprehended a contented heart as I now have, while still living a full-scheduled, professional life. Yes, Mother unlocked my heart, and now she brought precious Divine Mother to continue guiding the spiritual family.      During the years on this path, profound changes occurred in my life. However, I still resisted changing my self-centered behavior and reactivity even though my temper was much improved. I even ran from two more jobs. This slow-to-change attitude was very hard on Jeanne. Only Mother's grace kept her from leaving me. Mother knew exactly what I needed to make me get serious about wanting to change, and she brought me a strong experience in 1995. On a Saturday night at midnight, I had chest pains and 911 was called. Jeanne then called Divine Mother who told me over the phone, "This is totally a spiritual experience, so just trust Divine Mother's love and grace for you." She arrived at our home as the paramedics were working on me. I will always cherish the memory of Divine Mother meditating on our sofa as the paramedics wheeled me out the door on a gurney to the ambulance. She stayed at the hospital with Jeanne for three hours and still held a group meditation scheduled for 9:00 AM the next morning!      All of this culminated in sextuple bypass surgery and, due to complications, lung surgery ten days later. Divine Mother visited the hospital twice more during my stay, though she carried a busy law practice at the time. She told me Mother had given me a second chance. She said I must put God first in all things, change my old ways, show respect to Jeanne and others, and live right from then on. Divine Mother told me in the hospital, "I am pulling you to Spirit 24 hours a day." She put me into a spiritual cocoon and took away my worries. Throughout the entire bypass experience, I had no fear. No matter what happened, I knew that Mother's grace was touching me and protecting me. In retrospect, I am very grateful for this tough experience and know that I needed it to evolve.

Rest stop along a thirteen mile mountain hike in Windward Oahu taken by Jim and Jeanne to celebrate the one year anniversary of Jim's bypass surgery.      Late one night in the hospital, my pain became so intense that I asked Jeanne to call Divine Mother at home because I knew that only God could help. The tube into my chest, resulting from a collapsed lung, hurt so badly that I couldn't stand it and it had been the cause of five sleepless days and nights. No medications helped. After only ten minutes on the phone with Divine Mother, the pain disappeared and I slept through the entire night! There were other times that procedures should have been painful, yet through God's grace, I often felt little or no pain. I certainly experienced first hand Divine Mother's comment that, "Consciousness controls the body, not the other way around."      The bypass was Mother's grace for me because it gave me a new commitment and gratitude to nurture love for God. Through grace alone, I've learned that putting God first, respecting others, and always coming from a place of love and kindness toward others is crucial to right living. Mother's light has transformed my heart from one of relentless rushing; lashing out, then making amends; self-centeredness; not respecting Jeanne, family, friends, the world at large and most of all myself, to a heart of love and peace. Divine Mother has brought me so, so far. I will always be eternally grateful.