We have been blessed with many visits to Ananda, and what we have learned there changed the path of our lives. As we grew through meditation, we were moved to form an organization that would celebrate people whose lives reflected a true spirit of generosity and compassion—those who “act from the heart.” We named the Sullivan Ballou Fund after a Civil War soldier whose sweet heart is immortalized in a letter to his wife found after his death. The full text of this lovely letter is contained in this envelope with the award check.
Everyone at Ananda knows full well of the heartfelt service you offer to those around you. As Ananda Village manager, you are called upon to negotiate this community based on lofty spiritual aspirations through the shoals of practical problems like financial limitations, logistical obstacles, and village members rightfully concerned about their individual homes and services. It is often just at this level of the practical challenges of everyday living that spiritual enterprises founder. Yet you have turned those mundane challenges into opportunities to live out the principle that people are more important than things. We have heard of the even-mindedness, kindness, and heartfelt poise that you bring to your work, while at the same time utilizing your engineering training to provide high quality service and sound direction that considers all viewpoints. Surely it is no coincidence that you are also a minister with the Ananda Church and that you thereby provide a fine example of the householder who finds time for God, family, and service to others as well.
Like you, Sullivan Ballou was a practical man, a soldier, who dearly loved his family and also sought to live out his spiritual principles in the real world. He was willing to do so at great personal cost, and yet he was at total peace that having asked and received divine guidance he could engage in the material world with total commitment. We are very pleased to be able to offer this modest award to you in whom we see the same selfless devotion to God, to family, and to the larger community. You are both animated by the same spirit. We are inspired by your example.
Congratulations!
Elissa and Bruce Peterson, Founding Members