Today Swami Kaivalyananda answered a number of questions from the brahmacharis on the topic of the Guru, as we recently celebrated Guru Purnima. Here was one question; ‘what is the importance of the physical closeness to the Guru, or living with the Guru?’
Swami said, ‘if one has gained the necessary samskara from previous births and is able to be firm on the path of spirituality, then there is no importance to the physical closeness or distance of the Guru. What is important there is the inner presence of the Guru.
Some people stay in the physical presence of the Guru for a long time, they may even be disciples in the ‘inner ring.’ However, they never strived for that inner presence. Therefore, they never truly accept the Guru. They accept the Guru externally. Therefore, it is seen that those same disciples reject the Guru externally. After many years of living close to a Master, they leave. This is because they lack that inner presence.
Also, one thing we should understand is that ‘Gurutvam,’ the quality of being a Guru, is something that exists in the mind of the disciple. That isn’t something that exists in the Guru. Why? Because we daily chant, ‘Guru sakshat parambrahma.’ Guru is the Supreme Brahman. There is no place for ‘Gurutvam’ there. Therefore, ‘Gurutvam’ is something that is manifested in the mind of the disciple. Without that, there is no Guru.
Then as to the subject of the physical closeness to a Guru, Swami said that that may be necessary for those who are infants (shishu) on the spiritual path. For them, they have no other means but to rely on the physical presence. But just because one is an infant, it doesn’t mean that you can desire to always be that way. For example, a mother takes care of her infant, but that isn’t so he can remain an infant forever. It is for him to grow up and become independent. No Guru desires their disciple to be dependent on them forever. Their only wish is for the disciple to become independent. Therefore, one cannot be stubborn, thinking, ‘I will remain an infant forever.’ Even if one does this, the infant will be growing up naturally. Therefore, though a spiritual infant has to rely on the outer presence of the Guru, as one progresses, that ultimately has no importance. Instead, what is ultimately important is the inner presence of the Guru.
At the end of the class, it was seen that there was a visitor; the ashram monkey! He entered near the Kali shrine, drank some of the oil, then sat near Kali. Then he found some fruits that are usually given to Swami after class and helped himself to a nice meal. It is said that Hanuman loves to hear satsang…
The month of April marks two special anniversaries for all of Amritapuri.org’s dedicated fans.
It was on Vishu Day of the year 2000 (15th April) that your favorite website was launched. Two weeks earlier, the first issue of Amritavani, E-newsletter was emailed to addresses that had been collected from previous e-mails.
It was during a lunch stop with Mother during North India Tour 2000 (February-March) that Dhyanamrita came to find me with a biggest smile on his face and proudly announced: “Cheerful!” I smiled back and thought he was referring to that precious quality that spiritual aspirants should maintain. “Cheerful…” he repeated, “dhyanji***@cheerful.com!” He then went on explaining with great excitement that this was his new ’email address’, and started to challenge me whether I could invent something as creative and inspiring… I remember coming up with ‘joyful’, ‘smily’ and ‘morecheerful’…
Remember, this was 7 years ago, a time when personal email addresses were still uncommon, and you would think that they exclusively belonged to highly computer initiated ones…
Two weeks later, as the North India Tour was nearing its end, at another lunch stop, Dhyanamrita finds me again and with a determined tone says: – “You should stop the tour organizing seva! I am starting an Amma website. You have to help me…” – “A website!? You are creating a website? Or you mean that you will ask professionals to do it?… Where to find such people?” – “No, we will simply start and we will learn along the way… Help will come. I already collected a lot of information since…… yesterday! I asked Amma this morning permission to start an E-newsletter and she asked me to start a website…”
When we returned to Amritapuri, Dhyanamrita disappeared for a whole week, and I had forgotten about his dreamy project… When I saw him next, his eyes were shining, like those of a kid enjoying a choicest new toy: “Amritapuri.org”, he said, “That will be the name of the website. You like it?” It took me few seconds to realize how fully engrossed he had become in his project… “Come to the computer room tonight! I’ll show you what I have already come up with!”
His presentation was followed by tests and trials and lasted till 5am… This helped me understand a bit clearer what was involved in such a project, and to have further confirmation about how utterly unrealistic it was for one or two ‘web-design ignorant’ people to ‘create’ a website from scratch and in the shortest time… I couldn’t tell Dhyanamrita how I really felt, and break his enthusiasm. I just enjoyed making jokes about the whole thing, and could at least go to bed that morning in a fun mood… as the morning archana was well underway in the prayer hall! “Come back tomorrow night!” were his last words…
In these days, the internet connection was very slow, and the computer room crowded all day long. Night was really the best time to do some significant work on a project like that…
Few nights later, I was already fully tuned to my new schedule: Working all night long. Going to bed at 6am. Getting up at noon for lunch. Doing other sevas in the afternoon and rejoining the computer room from 5pm onwards for web design work or rather web-‘playing around and testing’ fun time… While learning how to use the hotmetal web-design program, we tested a whole cocktail of various stuff and fonts and colors each night… Just imagine trying to write before you really know the alphabet!?
A few students from AICT would come from time to time and clean up some tremendous mess we had built up. Thus, we proceeded, and soon (Only by Amma’s Grace!) the first issue of Amritavani was shapping up and we fixed April 1st as a day to send it.
On 31st March, Dhyanamrita shows up around 5pm, with two small bags on his shoulders: “We can’t get the e-newsletter sent from here. We have to send it from AIMS! A car is leaving in 15 minutes. Get ready!”
We reached AIMS for dinner. After tremendous struggles we succeeded in sending ‘Amritavani # 1’! Well, it took till about 4am to succeed, as in the first sending attempts, some addresses were getting it 10 times (Nice April Fool’s Day joke, eh?) while others received none!
Today, I wish to make all the amritapuri.org faithful happy, by asking Dhyanamrita to please resend that 1st issue to everyone for the 7th anniversary (I secretly kept a copy saved)… Let’s put it that way: First, that issue had the elements of an encyclopedia (you might need yet another 7 years to read it fully). Secondly, from a purely artistic point of view, it is really a rare piece of art that changes its colors and fonts according to each computer’s settings each time you click to view it… Like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, every viewer thinks she is looking at him/her…
April 1st 2000, 4:30am: As I was already enjoying the thought of going to sleep, the ‘creator of amritapuri.org’ says: “Let’s take a bus now to Palakkad! We will catch another bus to Ettimadai from there… We have to start working on the website!”
Of course, absolutely no chance to sleep or rest on the relentlessly bouncing bus… We reached Palakkad at about 6:30am, freezing from the blowing wind and absolutely exhausted. The next bus was at 7am, a waiting time that I spent observing a big black dog sleep near the bus stand’s shops, and hoping that they would open so I could buy some biscuits for myself, for cheerful.com and for the lucky black dog who knows nothing about websites and can thus sleep at night!
The driver of the next bus was a medal-winning road maniac. I had reasons to believe that he believed the vehicle couldn’t move without the horn continuously blasting… What on earth is the matter with him? Well, maybe he hadn’t gotten the chance yet to check his email that morning… Ettimadai was reached: 8am… time to go to bed!
For the next 10 days (sorry, nights…), in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Ettimadai campus, the work was progressing. With the help of qualified computer experts and students, amritapuri.org got a more presentable look (and spell-checked!)…
My main input for amritapuri.org’s style came from my passion for soccer. As I browsed to check on a multitude of websites to help us select how we wanted ours to look, I visited many soccer sites! I learned two important things from those sites, and incorporated them in the new site: 1- Have a ‘latest update’ section, so that the site remains ‘alive’ and attractive. 2- Use more photos than text and articles for recent information; as they are much faster to upload, and carry a deeper message… Vasanas put to best seva use!
And talking about vasanas I’d like to recommend for you all to ask for a ‘crispy’ dosa next time you order an Indian breakfast… They taste especially super at 6am in the Ettimadai campus kitchen, just before one goes to sleep… as I discovered then. And it’s Ok to ask for seconds!
Goodnight! ‘Cheerfully’ yours, Priyan
Below are the screen shots of MotherPage in various years.
we left pune as soon as the darshan was over. in fact amma walked to her camper right from the stage. i had to grab my camera bag and run through the crowds to the car to follow Amma. my shirt and dothi were full with butter and milk. some curd was still there on my beard – i saw it on the mirror of the car- which spilled when amma put in my mouth.
we entered into the express highway. in four places it passes through the tunnels – through the mountain. main one is more than one kilometer long!. they have halogen lights and turbo fans inside the tunnel to keep the tunnel lighty and airy.
the 100 km road is super. this has changed the life of pune and mumbai people. in one hour you can reach mumbai which used to take 4- 5 hrs earlier. if there is a traffic jam or an accident on the way, it used to take more time. there were hair pin roads and lots of ups and downs road. but now straight road. you need to pay 100rs for each vehicle.
Amma stayed in a devotees house first day of mumbai. next day she was invited to the Maharashtra chief ministers office. the CM wated to discuss with amma and find solutions to the farmers suicide in the state. Amma had an hour long discussion. after which amma announced 200 crore project to help he farmers and their families. amma made it clear that it wont be a financial distribution, but it will be a rehabilitation, education, counselling type of rehabilitation.
When the dates and cities were first announced for the South Indian Tour, I was silently thrilled. The tour included two cities I had hoped to visit – Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari. It also included Nagapattanam – the epicenter of Amma’s tsunami relief efforts – where almost 2000 homes have been built. Amma had been here twice before – less than two months after the tsunami struck, and again about a year later – for a public programme. In the first visit, I saw first-hand, the devastation that struck a small fishing village. During the second visit, I went to see a village of 340 homes that had just been completed, but not yet occupied. I was eager to return to see how things have changed since then…..
Chinnapillai sat in the road selling vegetables and berries in the shadow of a Krishna Temple. It was here that two years ago, less than two months after the devastating tsunami , Amma first visited Chinnapillai’s village of Kheel Pattinacherry in Nagapattanam, Tamil Nadu. Amma had sat inside the Temple, while hundreds of villagers gathered to receive her darshan and consolation.
I remember being here then, walking towards the beach while Amma was giving darshan – seeing first-hand the immense devastation that struck the homes closest to the ocean. Today, I was walking these streets again, this time with four Brahamacharinis and two young men who were telling the villagers about Amma’s visit and handing out copies of her photo.
When Chinnapullai was given a photo, she immediately grabbed it and smothered it with kisses. “How can I forget Amma? She is the one who gave us food.” When asked if she herself was affected by the tsunami, she was quick to answer, “I cannot lie, my home was spared, I lost no relatives and I am safe. I was sitting here just as I am now, and when people started running from the ocean. I only then realized what had happened. I then started to give out the food I was selling for free. “ She gave us each a handful of berries in a gesture of gratitude. I ate a few – they were like small peaches. Not yet ripe, a little bitter.
We continued further into the village. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought perhaps that the village would have been abandoned – with everyone moved to the new homes. But there was life all around. Children playing, women bartering over produce, animals in the streets. Indeed the tsunami had struck here, and those who had lost their homes had already been relocated or were still waiting for the government to grant their request. But some homes were spared mostly due to the lay of the land – and life continued for these folks.
I was accompanied by Mohan who has been assisting with Amma’s tsunami relief efforts for the past two years. He came from Coimbatore less than a week after the tsunami struck and decided to remain and help. All the villagers know him. As we walked the streets, young children affectionately called him ‘Palkaran’ (milkman) – as his first task was to distribute milk to all the villagers.
We stopped at Ramayan’s house. He’s 65 years old, but looked more like he was 80 – his face weathered by the ocean. When food was being distributed in the days after the tsunami, Mohan would bring some to his home. He was grateful for Amma’s efforts – there were photos of Amma in his home. He told of how the tsunami had knocked down the four foot high cement barrier in front of his house. Water had risen more than 6-feet on his street, but the main structure survived. He is hoping for a new home if the government will give him one, as are many of the remaining villagers. When asked if life has been returning to normal, Ramayan’s daughter Elachi was quick to note that occasionally, rumors fly that another tsunami will strike. The fear is still there for these people who live perhaps only ½ km from the sea.
Mohan and I crossed paths with Devi, an 18 year old girl, who was now enrolled in college studying for her BC in Computer programming. She was one of the students who received tutoring provided by the Ashram to tsunami victims. Her family’s home and boat were both damaged by the tsunami. “I have great affection for Amma,” said Devi. The tutoring classes helped me prepare for my studies in college.”
We continued our walk. Down to the beach where about two dozen tsunami boats were lined up on the sand. Many bore the yellow and red markings of boats repaired by the Ashram. They weren’t being used today. Not a single fisherman in site. The villagers were taking a four day holiday because Amma was coming. I was told that many of the women were at the programme site chopping vegetables. A group of children were standing in one of the boats – future fisherfolk. But instead of casting nets, they were trying to fly makeshift kites in the soft breeze that blew in from the ocean. I watched. Such simplicity and innocence in the midst of chaos.
Mohan and I walked back into the streets of the village. We came upon Muragan’s home where a red boat engine sat in front. Muragan is the expert engine repair man for the village. He and two other village repairmen were employed by the Ashram during the months after the tsunami struck to help repair over 200 engines that had been damaged. The Ashram provided workshop space and labor fees .
We wrapped up our walk in front of the temple where we started. The Brahmacharinis recalled Amma’s visit. We passed out more photos of Amma. The children all posed holding up their new pictures of Amma. Tomorrow night they will be seeing her again – this time in person.
The first time I visited Samantapettai, the streets were filled with villagers seeking out their newly assigned homes. The homes were still unoccupied, the streets unused. One year later, I came back to see how it had changed. I was alone – I didn’t have a translator this time so I couldn’t ask questions. I only wanted to look around – to observe and see how one year had transformed the villager’s lives.
I found life everywhere. I first encountered a group of women gathered around a water distribution tank. We exchanged smiles. Children played all around. A small boy had a plastic bag tied to a string. He was trying to make it fly like a kite. Goats, chickens were everywhere. Two goats were on the stairs to the roof of one of the houses – one at the top, the other at the bottom – challenging each other in a stare-down. An occasional photo of Amma in the front entrance of some homes. I came across a group of children who were delighted to have their photo taken. A few dozen gathered around and kept posing, insisting that I take their photo. A camera and children – a great way to overcome language barriers…
There was a huge sign with Amma’s picture in the field just inside the entrance to the village. The children insisted that I take a photo of them standing in front of it. They ran to the sign, some held their hands in prayer, others waived – and I clicked.
These were poor villagers. Amma has provided them with four walls and a roof from which to build a new life. Some may have received her warm embrace. Who knows where they would be today if Amma hadn’t showered her compassion on the people of Nagapattanam….. Amma will always be a part of their lives.
This afternoon, a young Indian couple came up to Amma for Darshan holding their new-born twins. They wanted to Amma to give them names. These babies (a boy and a girl) weren’t just any newborns. They were representative of the immense love and compassion that Amma has blessed the tsunami-affected people of India and Sri Lanka.
Sreejit and Liji had lost both their young children in the tsunami and could not re-conceive because Liji had had her tubes tied. Amma offered Liji the opportunity to have the surgery reversed, and to pay for all the costs, including seeing her through the delivery process if she conceived. And she did!
I was able to sit on the floor next to the family just after their darshan – but before they got names. I was so happy for them. In fact, I had such a feeling of joy and gratitude for Amma’s immense compassion. Having been with Amma for the past two years in Amritapuri, I have seen first hand most of the tsunami-related relief efforts put forth by the Ashram. By far, for me, this was the most moving and profound gift Amma could give anyone. Having recanalization surgery and re-conceiving is no miracle in and of itself – the technology is there. But for me the true miracle is that Amma gave this opportunity making no promises, no sureties. Just her love and blessings. And there it was in the two newborn.
Today when Amma came out for Q & A, somebody wanted to clarify a doubt about what Amma said yesterday during bhajans. The question was: “Why is it that Amma has sometimes before said that there should also be reason in devotion, that bhakti should be tempered with jnana, but yesterday She said that there is no reason in devotion?”
Amma replied that we should always look at the context in which She says any given thing. For some people who worship blindly and have the attitude that God resides only in an idol for example, Amma stresses the importance of acquiring some knowledge and discrimination in order to derive the full benefit of their devotion. On the other hand, a person who is firmly established on the spiritual path and has internalized the essential principles should put the intellect aside and open the heart without reason coming to interfere. That it not to say that the intellect is not important, but it just has it´s own place. Like Amma has said, in Love there is only Love. In this context I remember what one master musician used to say when asked how he could create such profoundly beautiful music. He said: “First master your instrument, then study and master the music (theory), after that forget about it all and just play!” How nicely said and how well this could apply to spiritual life also. I feel that Yesterday Amma was clearly calling for our undiluted love – and I might be mistaken but during tonight´s bhajans an avalanche of devotion swelled from the devotees gathered in the hall.
We drove down to southern Louisiana to help Vidya try to salvage what she could from her home that got hit with the storm surge from Hurricane Rita. The town she lives in – Abbeville, Louisiana – is approximately 15 miles inland and about 50 miles east of where the eye of the storm hit.
As we traveled further south and west, getting closer to where the eye of the storm hit, the landscape looked more and more like a tsunami had struck. Homes were pushed many feet from their foundations – others were completely gone. Huge trees were uprooted and debris was thrown all about. There were many areas that were still flooded even after two weeks. Everywhere we went, there was complete stillness with no life left – except alligators and the mosquitoes which were unbelievable.
We spoke with a few National Guardsmen who said that when they arrived, they helped to clean off the roads and remove all the dead livestock. There were even cows stuck up in trees that had drowned. The water level was so high that it pushed them into the trees. When the water receded, they got stuck in the branches. The Guardsmen also said they had to recover coffins that had floated up from their graves. Farther down, in one town that was completely wiped out (Cameran, Louisiana) there were absolutely no structures left, and many coffins and skeletal remains were scattered around because the coffins had opened up.
All of the homes in this area were severely damaged and cannot be lived in. No one is able to stay here so there is virtually no noise – it’s so quiet. The people we did meet were living in campers or staying several miles north with friends.
We were really shocked that so much damage had occurred this far inland from the sea. While the exteriors of most homes looked intact, the interiors were completely wiped out. The sea had surged inside these homes filling them with debris and sludge. Even if the residents consider moving back, they will have to completely gut their homes and rebuild all the walls, floors, ceilings, etc. Many will have to tear their entire home down.
When we reached Vidya’s home we tried to salvage what we could before we fell through the floors that were covered in sludge and were starting to cave in. Even though her home sits two feet off the ground, there was mold 3-4 feet up the wall, indicating that the water levels had reached more than 5 feet here. We were able to recover her dishes, some small items, and most of her clothes which survived because they were hanging up high.
Her home will have to be bulldozed and she will not be able to move back unless she rebuilds on the property – which she cannot afford to do. This is a very common situation. All the communities around this area have huge piles of their belongings piled out in front of their homes. This is so FEMA (the federal agency that will be providing financial relief to the victims) can assess the damage and provide appropriate aid. She has received some financial assistance from the government so far, but to get more, she has to go through tons and tons of paperwork, phone calls, etc…
Others are now helping Vidya clean out the debris because she needs to have everything out of her home before they can bulldoze it down. Everywhere you go in these communities, there are piles and piles of debris that were hauled to the street.
Our sons Mangalan (age 10) and Nealu (age 8) were greatly moved by the experience. Says Mangalan, “It made me sad to think about all these people that lost their homes and all their belongings. I felt like I wanted to help the victims of Hurricane Rita. “
Nealu (age 8, in photo on left, with another boy in the Satsang group) commented, “I saw a lot of houses that were knocked down, and that made me feel sad because all the people had to get out of their homes, and then when they came back and wanted to stay at their homes, they couldn’t. I also felt sad because all the beavers and cows were swept away and got caught in trees, and had oil on them. It made me feel good to help film with Amrita TV, because it is for Amma.”
Now that we are back in Dallas, Jeff and I are trying to organize an effort to get devotees to help with more clean up/ rebuilding in south Louisiana.
We are speaking, at this time, to a center in Abbeville that is helping with relief efforts all around that area. I feel that it is our dharma to keep these efforts fluid within our Satsang and our region of devotees. We can’t forget about these people. They need our help!
