Mother Hartel's Passing

from: Dennis Hartel
  to: Billee, Martin Wolff
date: Tue, May 26, 2015 at 9:46 AM
subj: Re: Mother Hartel

Namaskar Billee,

Thank you for that wonderful description of the Saranāgatī program in NJ. The trip to the NJ Temple for the Saranāgatī program should have been a shorter trip for you this time.

Mother's passing, the funeral programs and gatherings of family and friends all went smooth and effortlessly. Near the end Mother did have to suffer a bit now and then, but otherwise she was comfortable. I sat alongside her for three hours prior to her final breaths and I experienced deep peace continuously throughout those three hours.

I will copy below some text from an Evelyn email describing the events. And also the eulogy is attached.

Thank you for everything. Looking forward to seeing you more in NY now that my work is done here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
from: Evelyn
date: Sun 24 May

Namaskar,

Greetings in the Name of Bhagavan.

So, As you know, the funeral was yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny breezy refreshing day. Lots of Ashram people were in attendance in addition to Mrs. Hartel's large family.

Dennis spoke beautifully and movingly about 'Mother's Love' and his own mother's love in particular.

Jimmy lead the responsorial prayer with great feeling.

There was a picnic in the park by the River near their home organized by Connie and family. Kids were running around everywhere and there were lots of salads and veggies and fruits, cake from Vijaya and pies.

With Fran, Darlene & I enjoyed some time at the Falls. The sound and power of all of that water was breath-taking!!! It seemed that all the world was there, and especially lots of Indians. 😊.

Pushpendra and Jimmy took off and covered more ground and views. Dennis mostly manned the car and rounded us up so as to get Pushpendra to the airport on time.

Next, Darlene, Jimmy, Dennis, Guru and I enjoyed tea, conversation and Vedas at the Ashram studio apartment. Then, Italian-style dinner and ice cream and a walk by the River.

So, as predicted, it was a long, emotional, beautiful day among great friends old and new.

date: Mon, May 25, 2015 at 09:33
from: Billee

Dear Dennis,

It was so good to hear from you that your Mother was surrounded by her three children when she died. As a mother, it would seem that having the love of your children present would ease the transition and make it easier to let go. She was blessed to have your love and your support during this time, and the weeks and months leading up to it. I saw Mohan yesterday and he said you were looking well, this was so good to hear. I was also glad to hear that Geeta remained up there to give you and your family extra support. Her presence is a blessing and a grace.

We missed you yesterday at the Saranāgatī event in Princeton. It was a lovely gathering hosted by Aruna and Prashant and they had a great support team! It was held at a Durga Temple in a large community room. I am guessing that there were about 50 devotees present. One of the highlights for me was, Martin and Asha chanted the same song they had chanted at the Aradhana event; Acchu spontaneously joined them and he worked real hard to harmonize with them. Acchu looked very serious while chanting and relaxed and happy afterwards. It is fun watching him grow.

The theme was Bhagavan's love of Arunachala and Prashant and Aruna both read passages on this theme. There was lots of chanting both group and individual, ending with arati and prasad. If you have Facebook access Prashant has posted some pictures of the day.

It was a lovely gathering and a wonderful time to surrender to Bhagavan's presence and grace.