Kansas City Meditation Group of Self-Realization Fellowship

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Monastic Tour Meeting July 2010   We are happy to announce that we have been asked to host a Monastic Tour May 13-15, 2011. Our last tour (and our first) was held in May 2008. We expect to draw devotees from across the midwest to this event. Estimated attendance will be over 100. The event will be held at Unity Village. We have reserved the full hotel and some of the motel rooms. Devotees may also choose to attend just the events.   Typically, two Monastics will be sent from Mother Center to lead the weekend events. They may arrive as early as the Tuesday preceding the event. We will let you know prior to the tour if there are any planned events that week. The official tour kicks off on Friday with a public lecture. You are encouraged to bring family and friends so that they may learn more about SRF. SRF has found that personal invitations are the way that most attendees are drawn to the tour weekends. New people who attend the public lecture and sign up for the lessons are then welcome to join in the technique review which is held on Saturday morning. The technique review is a great opportunity for both new and old members to review the techniques taught by our Guru. Unique to our city is our connection with Rajarsi Janakananda-- Revered past-president of SRF and ideal disciple of Yogananda. For this reason we will again hold a pilgrimage to the Rajarsi Crypt. Saturday night we will hold a Kriya Ceremony for eligible students. We will have conducted meditations, energization exercises, our Sunday Service and a closing talk and video/DVD showing on Sunday.   Above is the schedule which was followed during our last tour. We will be working with the assigned Monastics and Center Tours Department to finalize the schedule for 2011. For the crypt tour we are planning to rent a bus and will take pre-registrations for those wishing to go on the tour. We are estimating the cost of this at $15 per person.   Above is a list of key upcoming events.   There are many volunteer positions that need to be filled. Above is a listing. To volunteer, please complete the following form and indicate your area of interest. Please list as many items as you would be interested in with most interested to least interested (ranking 1-2-3) We'll do our best to find you a volunteer position that fits your interest. First name: Last name: E-mail Address: Phone: Area(s) of Interest: Other Comments:   We have estimated our expected costs for the tour at $8050.We will include part of this cost in the cost of registration which we estimate will raise approximately $3300. That leaves $4750 that we need to raise through fundraising, so we have set a goal of $5000. We don't anticipate that we will need a lot of fundraising to achieve this. Last time we raised what we needed simply by asking members to donate in advance of the tour. A regular donation, even if just a small amount on a regular basis can add up significantly. Our methods of fundraising will include; requested donations, potluck dinner and silent auction in November, possibly a movie night. There are 40 weeks remaining until the tour. If 20 members donate $5 each per week we would raise $4000. Please note that Mother Center has requested that any surplus donations be sent to them to help cover their additional costs. "Sri Daya Mata some time ago said that after returning from a lecture campaign once, our Guru mentioned how nice it would be to offer these visits gratis, but regretted that this was not possible. He said that, ideally, these events would not only pay for themselves, but also provide some surplus donations that can be used to fund future visits and outreach efforts. For this reason, we would request that any surplus donations received during the Tour be sent to Mother Center after the Group has paid for all the expenses it has incurred."   The tour will be promoted in several ways. Firstly, as mentioned earlier will be a "bring a friend campaign" in which you are encouraged to bring family and friends to the Friday night lecture so that they may learn more about SRF. We will also distribute posters and flyers. These can be posted after receiving permission in yoga studios, bookstores, libraries, Indian restaurants and stores, at schools, etc. We will also run ads in Communiversity and Evolving Magazine and possibly Spirit Seeker Magazine. If anyone has any other ideas such as PR opportunities please speak with Wendy MacDonald Savoy or Beth Hanna who will be coordinating with Mother Center's PR Department. We will talk more about promotion as we get closer to the time of the event.   Thank you so much for serving our Guru in this divine way. We look forward to a divine weekend of spiritual upliftment and fellowship! Jai Guru! Kansas City Meditation Group of SRF and tour coordinators Wendy MacDonald Savoy and Beth Hanna