ANNOUNCEMENTS

March

Daylight Saving Time begins March 8th.

Also on Sunday March 8th, Portland Center will hold a combined Mahasamadhi Service for both Swami Sri Yukteswar and Paramahansa Yogananda at 11:00 a.m., the time of our usual Inspirational Service, to honor these great masters. A flower offering is optional as rose petals will be available. A monetary donation may also be brought in a plain envelope as a symbol of loyalty and gratitude. It is traditional not to smell the flowers as the fragrance is part of the gift meant for God.

After Sunday Services, you are invited to enjoy the Spring flowers blooming in our back meditation garden, thanks to the ongoing care by our Landscape and Maintenance Committee members. Please enter through the Sunday School/Social Room door.

Our monthly Friendship Tea will be held March 15th in the Sunday School/Social Room after the Inspirational Service. Please join us for light refreshments and fellowship.

Brother Nikhilananda and Brahmachari Daniel will be visiting Portland Center between April 17th and 19th. The monastics will hold a Satsanga during their visit. Please submit questions you would like them to consider, in the white box in the Information Room. A flyer will be available soon with details about all scheduled events.

Portland Center relies entirely on the support of volunteers for all of its operations. Thank you to all of our volunteers. The Center also relies entirely on financial donations for ongoing operating expenses. Financial donations may be sent through Zelle to portlandcenterdonations@gmail.com, by mailing a check to Portland Center or through the offering or Donation Box. Checks payable to Self-Realization Fellowship are sent to SRF headquarters.

We are seeking volunteers to help with some of the tasks related to our altar and commemorative service flowers. The E-newsletter and website have additional details. You may also speak with Paulette Fritsch, our Volunteer Coordinator, or sign up to volunteer on the Portland Center website or in the foyer.

Hunger doesn’t stop after the holidays. We are continuing to collect non-perishable food items for our neighboring school, which you may leave in the white box in the Information Room. The table in the Family Room has items available for members in need.

Those who wish to stay in the chapel a little longer to enjoy the meditative atmosphere are welcome to do so. We ask those who want to converse with one another after the service to kindly meet in the foyer or Information Room to preserve the silence of the chapel. Thank you for your consideration.

PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Book Room is open after Sunday 11:00 services. Copies of the newest SRF publication, The Spiritual Expression of Friendship, long-awaited copies of Cosmic Chants and some new color photographs of our Gurus are available. We have also received additional copies of the 2026 Engagement Calendar.

Please check the Lost and Found box under the coat rack in the Information Room for forgotten items.

As a courtesy to those members who are allergic to fragrances, please refrain from wearing perfumes, colognes, or scented hair products when attending services at Portland Center.

Thank you for supporting Portland Center with your skills and financial donations. If you would like to contribute online, you can send funds through Zelle to portlandcenterdonations@gmail.com or you may write a check. Checks payable to "Portland Center" will be deposited locally and support our Center's activities and expenses. Checks payable to "Self-Realization Fellowship" are sent to SRF headquarters in Los Angeles, to support SRF's worldwide activities. Checks may be mailed to our address at 356 NE 80th Avenue, Portland 97213.

Volunteering at Portland Center is a wonderful addition to one's sadhana, or spiritual practice. The Flower Committee is seeking creative and dependable volunteers to help with the flower arrangements that are an integral part of Portland Center Inspirational and Commemorative services. Would you like to learn a new skill or expand your current flower skills? You may speak with someone serving today or fill out a Volunteer Application in the Foyer.

We encourage everyone to read Portland Center’s current e-newsletter, which contains important and inspiring information. You may sign up on our website or fill out a form at the Newcomers Desk, if you aren’t already receiving it.

Portland Center's website now includes a new section about the history of the Portland Center of SRF, originally compiled by the late Kent Hathaway. Follow the Home page tab to the “Our Center” page.

A reminder that our chapel is open every Tuesday evening from 6:30 to 9:30 for silent individual meditation. As this is not a conducted meditation, one my come and go at any time.

Our Kirtan Group leads the Sunday morning services on the last Sunday of each month, beginning at 8:00 with the SRF Energization Exercises. You may also enter or leave during periods of chanting at 9:00 and 10:00.

Also, those who wish to stay in the chapel a little longer to enjoy the meditative atmosphere generated during the morning are welcome to do so. We ask those who want to converse with one another after the service to kindly meet in the foyer or the Information Room, to preserve the silence of the chapel. Thank you for your consideration.

If you know of people in need of healing prayers, you may submit their name in the prayer box in the Information Room. These names are submitted confidentially to the Mother Center, where they are prayed for by the monastics every day for three months. You may also request prayers on SRF’s website at www.yogananda.org.