Category: AshramDiary
life at the Amritapuri ashram
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marathon darshan
5 oct 2008, amritapuri amma gave probably the longest day-darshan in amritapuri today. to my knowledge this must be the longest day-darshan in recent times other than public programs that were held outside the ashram. the morning darshan started at 10 a.m (on 4th oct) and went on till 4.15 am the next day!! just before amma got up, a man with his wife came running for darshan. it was only in the evening that he read the papers and then he got to know that it was to be the last darshan day. so he had rushed with his…
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Really great to be a part
29 Sep 2008, Amritapuri This year for AMMA’s Birthday we, the students organized a stall for collecting funds towards Bihar flood relief. It was a really wonderful experience. We had to do everything from making the stalls to going around and selling things. We organized four stalls one had food items, one had tea, coffee lime juice, one with garments and one with handicraft products. It was a very good experience for us. We really felt good. Above all we really enjoyed it. It was really great to be a part of the celebrations. – Abhilash
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Hanuman seva
26 Sep 2008 This morning in the ashrams Hatha Yoga class, we practiced an advanced asana called “Hanuman Asana”. Hanuman was the chief of the ape-army who helped rescue Sita, the divine spouse of Sri Rama, from her prison in Sri Lanka. The teacher explained to us that the posture was named after Hanuman because, just like Hanuman jumped across the ocean to rescue Sita, it helps us to go beyond our physical and mental limitations to reach a higher state of being. After the class, while I was enjoying my morning Cappochino, I was politely asked by the seva…
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Starting to make a difference
Starting to make a difference – AYUDH meets in Amritapuri August in Amritapuri provides a time for new friends and old friends reuniting. This gathering together of people undoubtedly created a sense of unity within the youth and some projects arose. The first of which was the Amrita Vidyalam Garden Project. The plants are flourishing so much that we have been asked to come back to the school and help the tenth, eleventh and twelfth year students learn how to make raised beds and then to transplant the plants from the rice sacks to the beds. A number of youth…
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The birth of Gita book
How did this all start? Let’s see. Now we’re preparing for Amma’s 55th birthday, and there are many new activities that are going to be launched by the Math. An interesting thing that is going to be released has been in the works for almost two years, and I have to admit I doubted that it would ever happen. It’s going to be the release by the Asram of a book on the Bhagavad Gita, which is a first for the MAth. The book is a collection of satsangs held in the asram by Swami Kaivalyananda for the Asram residents,…
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Akhilandeshwari Jaya Jagadamba
20 Sep 2008, Amritapuri Yesterday night, at the very end of the evening bahajns Amma sang a heart-stirring version of “He Amba”. When she told the musicians on stage about her choice of the song they exchanged glances and smiled at each other. They must have thought to themselves: Amma, who has a repertoire of thousands of devotional songs in dozens of languages, chooses to sing this simple Namavali at the climax of her bhajans? But in fact, there is no such thing like a simple song for Amma. She can infuse the greatness of her devotion into any bhajan.…
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Heaven at Her Feet
I wanted to write about this; but forgot. Today when i saw him again, i am reminded. So here it is… He has been coming to Amma for a long time. This time he is here with his family. It was really surprising when they came for the padapuja. What is the surprise? So many have done padapuja. The surprise is: He is from Iran and a Muslim. With his family they did padapuja to Amma. The father, mother and the 3 grown-up children. In Islam it is said that heaven is at the feet of your mother. I imagined…
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Parippally kids
9 Sep 2008 Amma sang such a beautiful set of bhajans again tonight. It is so nice to watch her when she gets really immersed in the songs and is clearly enjoying herself. Yadupati Manahari Vannalum Ambike Ente Kannunir Anbennum Sollukku Ichchamayi Vedambike Jis Hal Me Om Namah Shivaya Jai Jai Jai Durga Maharani I saw many happy little faces in the audience again tonight as the orphans from Parippally are already here for Onam. Their innocence and participation always adds to the bhajans. They are so sweet and well behaved kids. Amma’s love has completely transformed them into radiant…
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Nice Bhajans
8 Sep 2008, Amritapuri Tonight’s bhajans were really heartfelt especially when Amma was singing the older songs like Kalina Kanan, which always seems to take her away into realms of bliss. I’ve always liked Maheshwari Rajajeshwari, which Amma does not sing so often these days. A very special set of songs tonight: Hare Kesava Govinda Devi Bhagavati Shantipurne Anbin Vativam Amma Varumo Iniyum Maheshwari Rajeshwari Kalina Kanan Om Namah Shivaya Jai Ma Ambe Amrita-TV has been filming the bhajans for the past two nights. I’m sure they caught really nice footage of Amma tonight. Vishwanath