Category: AshramDiary
life at the Amritapuri ashram
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Bhaktavatsale Devi
As a result to requests I post the lyrics to Bhaktavatsale Devi here. They are of course very approximate. Writing Malayalam with roman letters and without proper transliteration codes is only indicative of the correct pronunciation. Anyhow as Amma says, if the child does not know how to intone “mother” correctly, it does not mean that she will not respond. Singing along with a recording of Amma singing this song is good way to familiarize oneself with the song. Bhaktavatsale Devi Ambike Manohari Bhakta janartti tirppan shaktayayimevum devi – O Devi, O Ambika, Beauty Personified, O Thou Who art Affectionate…
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Amrita TV is back
After being absent from the bhajan hall for sometime, Amrita TV was again present tonight filming the bhajans. Lights, cameras, and all sorts of equipment were aimed at the stage bathing Amma in light. I thought to myself that is their anything Amma will not put up with for the happiness of Her children? So many people will be able to enjoy Amma’s profound bhajans in their own homes. Who still says technology is a bad thing? Amma sang the following tonight: Vraj Me Aisa Amme Yi Jivente Muka Ganam Kasturi Tilakam Katinnu Katayi Bholanatha Re Where Can I Go?…
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Morning Meditation
Recently, Amma requested that Her Western devotees meditate together by the sea from 6:30-7:30am and 5-6pm daily. After morning Archana and Chai, a number of Westerners can be seen making their way to the seaside. We take a path that goes through some of the neighboring village, and along the way are local vendors selling coconut milk, snacks and tea. Villagers can be seen sweeping their walks to start the day, or waiting for the bus. Scattered along the shoreline, we sit in meditation. Some do the IAM Technique, others salute the sea, while others simply sit with eyes closed.…
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Rain in Amritapuri
Though the rainy season has supposedly passed, here in Amritapuri, it seems to have never ended. When I first arrived on August 14th, it rained every night for a week. Long, steady downpours that leave ankle deep puddles all over the Ashram. After that week of downpours, there seemed to be a break. But then it started again two days back. Just when you thought it was safe to hang your laundry on the roof – another downpour. ‘A second rinsing,’ joked an Ashramite. Tonight, it poured just after bhajans while dinner was being served in the Main Hall. Westerners…
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Amma the Unpredictable
Today as Amma was coming for bhajans, She took a detour to the east-side of the bhajan hall where the Indian Shop and the two story building adjacent to it have been recently demolished to make more space for Amma’s upcoming birthday crowds. “Demolished!”, some people who have not yet heard about it might exclaim. It is actually quite nice, since the bhajan hall gets better air-circulation now. The shop is newly located at the side of the temple where the old library used to be. Anyway, Amma went to see the site before coming up for bhajans. I don’t…
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Another try
Arriving for the first time at Amma’s Ashram in India after 35 hours with hardly any sleep, two delayed flights, and a two-hour dirve on Indian roads was quite a shock. When somebody asked me for my first impressions I mostly answered: “Crowded, plain, and even though I have my Mom with me, I feel completely lost.” The Orientation Tour on the first day was a good start, but many more questions appeared and I had to look for information on my own. I felt like taking the next flight back home. The situation somehow changed when Amma gave me…
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What can I say?
Om Namah Sivayah, I am spending a few weeks here in Amma’s Ashram. I’m asking myself: “What can I say?” I feel it impossible to put into words anything that happens in this ‘magic’ place on the planet. There’s not even a second of wasting time. Amma takes care of each one’s precise necessities at every moment. Sometimes, you get a sweet smile from Her and some other times you may get a look from Her right into your eyes. Meanwhile, She puts you in situations that are difficult for you to manage and She also sends some people you…
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Amma came early
I was sitting outside my room above the bhajan hall when I saw some white saris moving at the speed of light towards the stage which usually of course means that Amma is coming or going somewhere. My sisters, the brahmacharinis have a sixth sense of some sort, I feel. Amma was arriving for bhajans unusually early at around 6.10 pm, having finished darshan already. Quickly grabbing everything I ran down and made it just in time. Sometimes I feel that Amma wants to break routine in order to test the awareness of the ashramites. I remember long time ago…
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Two Prayers
I’m a left liberal academic from the USA who never dreamed I would ever be at a school where the day starts with the chanting of prayers, an act that is at the source of intense American political and cultural tension. At Amma’s University, however, the 8:30 AM prayers come from the heart of Sanatana Dharma, the teachings so the Eternal Wisdom. They seem so natural and so obvious a way to begin the day. Two of the prayers are the Shanti mantras that are chanted on Amma’s tours in which we ask to be lead from untruth to truth,…