Last night in ABQ, as it appeared that Devi Bhava was almost ending, and while helping to bring tour luggage outside where they were building the pallets, someone came out with a handful of tokens saying that Amma had called staff for darshan yet again.

As far as this writer can recall, Amma has never called staff more than once in any given US city (if at all, on any given tour), so we were all surprised and a few of us asked again to confirm.

When the answer came back ‘yes’, a multifaceted conflict arose: “I already had darshan the other night.” “Amma will probably call again in Dallas.” “Amma is tired and her body is in pain.” “What will others think if I go for a second time here, and then again two days later?” Two of these thoughts were openly echoed by others – that Amma was tired, and they had already had darshan.

But not Luke. Without missing a beat, he instantly stopped what he was doing, grabbed a token, and took off like a wild cheetah to the hall. A few people smiled, and commented that we should all be like him – yet we still went back to our seva, content in our decision (for whatever reason) to wait for later, or to not go at all.

Back in the hall, standing near the stage, I watched the seemingly endless flow of staff who had decided to go, file up to Amma and receive their second darshan. Still holding to my decision, I stood there wondering whether I had allowed my ego to deprive me of another sweet moment in Amma’s arms, or if I was simply being a ‘good devotee’ by not going.

Toss away the ego. We should all be like Luke. When Amma calls, She WANTS us to come…quickly.

Sri Pati
America Yatra 2013