Category: AshramDiary
life at the Amritapuri ashram
-
Saying Hello
Saying Hello Just before 1pm, the Ashram began to buzz with anticipation of Amma’s arrival back from Sri Lanka. As usual, the question was which entrance would Amma arrive through. Most people anticipated the north entrance – Her car would pass by the Girl Student Dorm, past the Flats, through the gate, past the Temple, and around the back, dropping Her off at the entrance to Her house. Many people had started to gather near the front of the Temple, hoping to catch a glimpse of Her, or touch Her hand as She extended it out of the opened window. …
-
Waving Goodbye
Yesterday during sunset, while laying in savasana after doing IAM on the rooftop of the ‘S’ flats, I caught a glimpse of another flock of Kites (eagles) slowly circling above on an air current near the south entrance to the Ashram. Sitting up, I noticed another even larger flock circling further to the north – perhaps near Amma’s house, or towards the northern entrance of the Ashram. As I watched, the northern batch started to drift southwards and joined with the others. The combined group of about 50 danced and circled directly above me for about 30 seconds, then slowly…
-
Amma left for Sri Lanka
Amma left for Sri Lanka in the evening at about 6.30 pm. Tomorrow Amma will hand over the symbolic key to the tsunami-relief houses to the President of Sri Lanka. She will return on Saturday, and will leave almost immediately for the next leg of Bharata Yatra 2007.
-
prayer
Just before darshan started today, Amma asked everyone to pray for the 35 children who perished yesterday evening when a boat capsized during an excursion on the Periyar river in the Thattekad area of Kerala, about 55 km east of Ernakulam, as well as for the 60+ people who died when the Samjhauta Express train taking passengers from Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan was bombed. After the prayer Amma said “We should pray to God that such tragedies do not take place in the future. We should also be ready to serve those who are affected.”
-
Prasad Day
Today was meditation and Prasad day. It is always a highlight of the week to receive Prasad from Amma. There is something in it that makes one feel all round good. Normal food might make the belly full but Prasad goes to the depths of ones being and seems to give total nourishment. Also one gets the feeling that through the Prasad Amma can enter the mind and body to a certain degree in order to purify the inner essence. A certain amount of tuning happens so to say. I think it is true also of all food dedicated to…
-
Rainy Day Bhajans
It was a quiet and slightly rainy day today. Even now a slight breeze with a little smell of rain is there. I love this tropical climate even though I was born in the totally opposite arctic world. When I was a child I used to imagine tropical places in my mind in the cold dark nights of the northern hemisphere. I guess it was some kind of foreboding of things to come. In my mind everything here is connected with Amma. I imagine how Amma would have passed all the different seasons here in Her early life and find…
-
Weekend Darshan
Over the weekend Amma was giving darshan to devotees constantly. Yesterday Amma gave darshan until 12.30 in the night. She was in a playful mood and going very slowly in the end. At one point She was smearing Gurudas Swami with chandanam until his whole head was covered with stripes. She was also giving mantra initiations and counseling people throughout the darshan. Swami Amritaswarupananda and Swami Amritatmanda both sang a set of bhajans. Amma will soon be leaving for Her North-Indian tour. The season here is starting to come to an end. After Shivaratri the weather usually starts getting hotter…
-
Shivaratri Bhajans
When Amma came for bhajans, students from Amrita Vidyalayam were standing in line with lamps and flowers in their hands, all the way to the stage. Tonight is Shivaratri. Amma sang with immense force and Her voice was really powerful. Tonights bhajans were: Krishna Govinda GopalaOmkara SwararupiniPelava KaiviralOm Shakti Om ShaktiMano BuddhyahankaraGange Ginta PavitraluOm Namah ShivayaKannante KalochaDeep Within the SoulJai Ma Ambe Kannante Kalocha is always magnificent and melts the heart every time Amma sings it. The lyrics to Pelava Kaiviral strike me as profound and beautiful, and they could as well be a Shivaratri prayer: I long to walk…
-
Manasa Vachana
Hari Bol Hari Bol (Shyamavarna Sundaranga) Prapanchamengum Pati Pukazhtuvan Mangu Me Tujhse Manasa Vacha Karmana Om Namah Shivaya New Song Durge Durge Amma shed some tears during Manasa Vacha tonight. She caught the tears as soon as they fell from the corner of Her eye. It’s just one of those songs that transports Amma somewhere where we cannot follow. In the old days Mother would have gone straight into Samadhi. I wonder how difficult it is to keep Her mind on this plane? Through my mind, speech and actions I am remembering Thee incessantly. Why then are Thou delaying to…