One recent morning I awoke feeling a message from Divine Mother. Three young girls in our community are now 11 years old and all friends. It’s the perfect age for a Rite of Passage.
In Vedic Astrology, the year 11 points to the broader 12-year cycle of life called Bhrigu Chakra Paddhati, governed by the Moon. The 11th year is associated with the 11th house, gateway to your dreams, desires, income, social circle and long-term gains.
Many years ago, looking at our son’s chart, our Vedic Astrologer told us, somewhat jokingly, that when our son turned 11 we should move to Rishikesh, India, considered a spiritual mecca for yogis. Instead, our family moved up to the Ananda Meditation Retreat, a secluded campus that is ideal for experiencing Rites of Passage.
The eleventh year is when many young adults step away from parental guidance and begin to test their inner soul.
Swami Kriyananda, the founder of Ananda and the Living Wisdom Schools, once suggested to us that we adopt some of the Native American Rites of Passage for our young adults.
Having a day of silence in the forests near the Meditation Retreat, where each student finds their own spot in nature can lead to states of expanded awareness.
On one Rite of Passage ceremony many years ago, four girls began their day with yoga and meditation in the little temple at the retreat. Then, taking nothing but water and a few nuts and berries, they went their separate ways (there were adults within earshot should one need help). All they took with them was their meditation pillow and a journal.
The girls were instructed to keep silent, even when they returned to the little temple for more yoga postures and an art experience. After this they went into to the forest for one last hour of silence in their chosen spot. Next, they came to the Meditation Retreat dining room and had a simple dinner of soup and bread, still keeping silence.
After dinner, when it was dark and the sky full of stars, several of us went with them to the Vedic Fire Ceremony pit. The staff and the girls together built a roaring fire. We all sang a devotional chant together, “I am the sky, mother, I am the sky. I am the vast blue ocean of sky, I am a little drop of the sky.” The chant is a meditation on spiritual vastness and divine consciousness. The short repetitive lyrics served as an affirmation of who and what we really are.
Next, a few of the female elders led the girls in chanting the Vedic mantras—The Gayatri Mantra for enlightenment, wisdom, and inner purification, and The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra for Spiritual Liberation, healing and protection. After a short meditation at the end of the mantras each girl came forward to receive a blessing on their spiritual eye from the elders who presented each girl with a special gift—a shawl, or a spiritual mala or bracelet.
After a few days of processing the Rites of Passage event, each girl was asked to share with peers and others how the experience was for them, if they chose to do so. One girl had the experience of a Red-Shouldered Hawk coming to her and sitting in a tree nearby. In Native American symbolism, the Red-Shouldered Hawk brings the gift of acute awareness, intense focus, leadership and a deep connection to the spirit world. All the girls recounted thoughts that came to them from nature, and then took the time to understand the underlying symbolism linked to their vision.
Rites of Passage can often be solitary events but when shared with a small group of friends, the rites can deepen connections. And sometimes, the Rite of Passage can involve the entire community.
An 11-year-old girl receives a character award from her teacher at the Living Wisdom School.
Each year at the Living Wisdom School, we hold an awards ceremony where every student is honored with a character trait, an accomplishment they’ve earned. The awards are given starting in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Teachers sensitively tell a wonderful story about each student and then present them with their award, which could be for anything as lofty as courage, kindness to others or the ability to discriminate, to actual academic excellence.
These awards ceremonies act as mini Rites of Passage in the lives of young people. The school takes the time to honor each student in ways that most schools never do.
A 13-year-old receives a special award at the Living Wisdom Schools awards ceremony.
A 5-day canoe trip, complete with ceremonies and silence became a Rite of Passage for a group of boys on the verge of becoming young men.
As we live here on earth, we go through many situations that somehow allow us to navigate the deeper waters of our souls. Capturing these realities with a Rite of Passage allows the sacredness of these experiences to create a powerful memory.
For pilgrims visiting the holy Ganges River in Varanasi, India, priests perform the Ganga Aarti, a sacred Rite of Passage for all who partake. Going on pilgrimage to India, like our 2027 Pilgrimage https://anandacollege.org/india-2027/ is in itself a powerful Rite of Passage.
The Power of the Elders
“I came to know her because she lived in stories”
There’s a story an old Lakota Indian woman used to tell her grandchildren. She always told the story at night, sitting around a fire. Each time she told the story, tears would run down her face. It was the story of how her own sister had died in the pandemic of the late fall of 1918, over 100 years ago. The story she told always made her weep because her sister had been 19 years old, at the height of her youth when she succumbed. When she told this story it made others weep, such was the depth of feeling for her sister. The Native American tribes were vulnerable to viruses. The Spanish Flu, similar to Covid, had spread from crowded spaces that were poorly ventilated, allowing the virus to mutate. The Native Americans had been isolated and their virgin indigenous immune systems were defenseless against the viruses brought here by the Europeans.
Yet the Native American ability to weave stories passed down from generation to generation remains one of the wise teachers absent from a culture full of media that lasts only a few seconds and is often void of depth of feeling.
A Peruvian elder known as a “paqo” or “mystic, priest or healer” dispensing items during a sacred ritual that focuses on grounding, asking the surrounding mountain spirits for safe travels and giving thanks to the earth. On this particular spiritual pilgrimage, unusual circumstances led to our meeting. A group of us were traveling together on the airplane from Lima to Cusco. We hadn’t arranged anything but as it turned out one of our leaders was sitting next to a young shaman returning from abroad. During the conversation he explained he was planning to meet one of the elders who lived up in the high mountains near Cusco, in a remote village that tourists were not allowed to visit. When he learned our group studied the yuga cycles of time he offered to introduce us. The elder had just walked three days by foot from his mountain village to Cusco. He was very quiet and interiorized. He took us to a spot that had been used for sacred ceremonies for thousands of years. The entire experience was spiritually uplifting and meaningful for our group. We offered our own personal prayer beads and holy items into the “circle of healing” to be blessed before our pilgrimage began.
Spiritual Rites of Passage can act as essential portals for transformation, helping to release an old identity and allow space for new spiritual growth. As we grow older, we too need Rites of Passage. Spiritual Pilgrimage is one method. Yet one of the best rites we can pass on is to listen deeply and take the time to cultivate stories that will help others navigate their time here on earth. I write about different rites of passage and saintly people I’ve encountered in
The Four Stages of Yoga, How to Lead a Fulfilling Life, a book that chronicles experiences with the Living Wisdom Schools, the Ananda College of Living Wisdom and the fascinating spiritual communities of Ananda.
Swami Kriyananda (1926-2013) was a direct disciple of the great yoga master Paramhansa Yogananda. He emphasized that formal milestones are valuable tools for guiding young individuals toward maturity. He suggested ceremonies that included a pledge, prayer and a symbolic fire ceremony to help individuals transition from a state of dependency to embracing the responsibilities of adulthood. For adults, he taught to see all of life as a preparation for death—in fact he called death “The Final Exam.”
Living Wisdom International High School
Website: www.livingwisdom.org
Contact: Janaka@anandacollege.org