All year long they wait.  Devotees from the Southwest and others from all over the country and abroad who have heard about, or experienced the magic of Amma in New Mexico, (whose state motto is “Land of Enchantment”), wait for those few days in June when Amma arrives.  However, the devotees don’t just wait.  They begin preparing in the autumn with the launch of the program guide advertising sales, and organizational meetings begin in January before the June program.  This may seem like a very early start, especially considering the lightening speed with which the programs are organized in India.  Yet, considering that approximately 20,000 hours of labor by hundreds of volunteers are required to transform the Marriot Pyramid into a program venue and to run the program, such an early start is not as strange as it might seem.  From the vantage point of one who lives most of the year with Amma in Amritapuri, the hard work and enthusiasm of the devotees, most of whom only see her once a year, is humbling.
The New Mexico program began in the living room of Steve and Cathi Schmidt, who hosted Amma sight unseen in 1987.   Amma gave very long darshans that year, sometimes singing whole songs while someone was in her lap.  I had that chance in Taos, NM when she sang most of the bhajan Bhagavan during my darshan. That life changing experience led to moving to her ashram in India, with summers living at the Amma Center of NM.

The next year, 1988, the program expanded into a large tent on the Schimdt property, and from that simple beginning a small permanent structure was built to house the satsang.  In 1996, Amma directed that the second U.S.  Ashram be built there.  The program was hosted on the land, a pinon forest with a history of Native American presence, for several years until the increasing crowds required the move to large hotels in Albuquerque, NM.

The days before the program are always fraught with intense activity.  Phones at the Amma Center ring constantly with questions about the program and Amma.  In the Amma Center greenhouse, dozens of tulsi plants were grown. These tulsi plants were infused with so much archana and mantra they practically glowed in the dark!

Storage sheds were emptied of all kinds of things that only see the light of day once a year.   Equipment for the snack shop, water station and staff room, supplies and toys for the children’s program, etc., were loaded into a large rental truck and devotees’ cars for the one hour drive to the Marriot in Albuquerque.  A crew had also been organized to meet the national tour truck to help unload it and set up at the hall.  Meanwhile, at the hotel, a lovely backdrop of pink fabric and flowers was assembled.
Green Friends activities are an important part of the New Mexico satsangs and recycling stations were highly visible, even in the bathrooms, where the paper towels are recycled.  All plastic, paper and food waste is recycled or composted at Amma’s NM program.  The water station supplied pure water and encouraged using refillable steel bottles instead of plastic.

In one of Swamiji’s instructive and inspirational classes at the retreat, he spoke of the “remarkable and eventful journey from a New Mexico living room to the huge hall at the hotel.  (A journey that has been echoed all over the world.)  However, he pointed out that whether Amma gives darshan to a small crowd in a house or gives darshan in a stadium- it’s all the same to her.  She is changeless, content, blissful and unperturbed in all circumstances…all the marks of one established in Supreme Consciousness.
In her satsang the first night, Amma spoke about the beauty and unity of nature and how only humans “generate discord.”  She mentioned that the difference between jarring noise and beautiful music has to do with the Center Point of Love.

To illustrate the musical point, Swamiji (Amma’s satsang translator) asked for the tune of a lullaby and to his surprise the audience began humming the melody of a popular lullaby.  From a few tentative notes in the front row, soon the whole hall was humming along.  Amma’s point was reinforced and finally Swami had to ask us to stop so Amma could finish her satsang!  It was a beautiful moment, underlining Amma’s point.  We were one family at that moment, in unity, and making beautiful music.
New Mexico is home to many indigenous peoples who have managed to retain most of their customs and traditions.  These cultures also stress that prayer and good thoughts and actions keep the world in harmony and balance.  The Native Americans help keep this balance through a ceremonial calendar that includes group ritual singing and dancing.

I thought of how at Amma’s programs on the US Tour we are also doing this, as we fill the atmosphere with prayers, chanting and singing for several days in cities across America.  Often we even dance with Amma as well as sing with her!  To meet the challenge of producing these programs successfully, we must work in love, harmony and unity.  For many of us, the love at our Center Point is love for Amma, but perhaps over time, as we live and work together, we will learn to love purely as Amma does, freely and without demands or expectations.

After four harmonious days, Amma left for Dallas and within two hours the efficient, though sleepless crew, had emptied and cleaned the hall and surrounding rooms and packed and loaded the trucks!  Back to the sheds at the Amma Center came the same items that had been removed a few days ago.  However, in future years, things may not have to be transported very far, as there is a good possibility that the program will come back to the land where it all started.  Having flowed out from that Center Point of Love in 1987, and created a strong and unified satsang and ashram; and having hosted 26 years of Amma’s heart opening and transforming programs, that unifying energy is circling back.  One can only imagine what amazing things will happen in the years to come!
Rta S.
New Mexico