8 June 2008, San Ramon, CA

While doing seva in the kitchen I noticed a lot of cooked cereal was left over from breakfast so I asked if I could use it to make Humble Pie by baking it in the oven.

My request to make Humble Pie was met with an unexpected offer: “Would you like to use the Solar Oven set up at the Green Friends table?”

“Wow!” I thought, “this could show what can be done with a solar oven as well!” So I added ingredients to the cooked cereal and after mixing it together placed it in a special pot designed for use in the solar oven.

At this point I was concerned about bringing the mixture to the Green Friends table because my next scheduled seva was in a few minutes. So, again my companion offered to bring the pot of Humble Pie to the solar oven so I could be on time for my next 2-hour seva shift.

Now that everything was taken care of, I began my next seva and the Humble Pie, which was now cooking with the heat of the Sun, went completely off my radar. By the end of my shift all I could think about was eating my own lunch.

There’s nothing quite like eating lunch and watching Amma giving darshan on the tv screen in front of you. It was in this state of relaxed timeless bliss that the word INSPIRATION on the table in front of me triggered my memory of the Humble Pie.

I quickly entrusted my plate of food to the watchful eyes of others at the table and went to the Solar Oven to check on the Humble Pie. I could hardly wait to offer it to Amma.

The mixture had transformed into a hot gooey __________ I don’t know what you would call it–not a dry cake, not a familiar cooked cereal, it was now Humble Pie.

By the time I reached the temple devotees were already lined up for a glimpse of Amma as she left the hall. I found a spot where she would pass and knelt down holding up the pot hoping Amma would notice it.

Amma stopped and asked “What’s that?”

“Humble Pie.”

Amma: “What’s Humble Pie?”

“because Amma only accepts food offered with humilty.”

At this point tears were streaming down my cheeks as Amma ate some of the Humble Pie.

Amma: “What’s in it? What’s it made of?’

There was a shocked reaction among some as I said, “Leftover cereal from breakfast.”

Amma then gestured with her hands, forcefully pushing them out in a form of blessing, saying, “No! No!” to the ones who were shocked and then teaching, “Good! Good! Food is not going to waste. Amma is very concerned about what’s happening because of the rice situation.” The price of rice has gone way up and many can no longer afford to buy it.

Amma ate this humble pie. Now it is prasad, blessing the whole world.

I have often imagined serving food to Amma when I pray before eating with these words to the Divine, “Please transform this food into Humble Pie because I know Amma only accepts food offered with humility.”

Today this prayer was heard in a most compassionate way.

sharing offered by one of Amma’s zeroes

Christine