28 Aug 2007, Amritapuri

Yesterday was such a fun and action packed day I didn’t even find time to write.

In the morning Amma came out around 10 o’clock and started with an Onam message, which is posted on Amritapuri.org. After the speech there was a vibrant rendition of Mata Rani Ne after which Amma led the whole crowd dancing to the tune of Amrita Vahini. During the song Swamiji really let loose behind the microphone. That’s one thing about Amma’s Swamis, while being real Sannyasins nevertheless they also know how to relax and have fun. Surely they are not the “dry” sort of renunciates that Sri Ramakrishna was terrified of. As Amma has said, real renunciation enables us to really enjoy the world without being attached to anything (except to Her of course).

At the end Amma went into a deep introverted state and had to sit down for a few minutes so that she would not fall down. A deep silence and bliss pervaded the hall during the minutes that She remained withdrawn.

After the dancing Amma distributed a tasty Onam Prasad meal to everybody, which tasted absolutely delicious as does everything that comes from Amma’s sweet hands.

In the evening the bhajans rocked even more than usual. The stage was really alive with shakti as Amma just seemed to be pouring it out so that the devotees gathered would really benefit from their time with her. Surely celebrating Onam with Amma cannot compare with any other festivities no matter how grand.

The songs were:

• Ambati kanna
• Alamba hinam
• Oru Kochu Pulnambin
• He Ambe Mayamauli (Marati)
• Chentalir Padangal
• Enaikakka Unaiyantri (Tamil)
• Bara Gopala Bala Gopabala (Kannada)
• Om Namah Shivaya
• Jai Jai Janani Jai Ho Teri (Hindi)

Vishwanath