Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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i saw the goddess alive
well known carnatic classical violinists, mysore nagaraj and mysore manjunath, also known as the ‘mysore brothers’ came to meet amma and performed for her near the end of darshan. they were sitting by her side for some time and as darshan ended, amma decided to sing. she sang two songs, they then took out their instruments and started playing along with amma. after two songs amma asked them to play alone. they played the famous song “raghupati raghava raja ram” while amma sat clapping and enjoying the music, especially the sound of the violin. the whole crowd joined amma in…
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Waiting in Santa Fe
All year long a large group of devotees meet every Saturday at the Amma Center of New Mexcio in Santa Fe. They meet at a structure built on Amma’s instructions on the site where she conducted a program for 18 years in a white tent in the pinon studded granite foothills above Santa Fe. Every Sunday morning a faithful group of devotees meet at the Santa Fe ashram to make 108 delicious burrito lunches to take to the homeless and hungry in downtown Santa Fe, who have no other meal supplied that day. Throughout the year , the satsang holds…
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Celebrating Amma- Milano and London
Although Amma had just finished the huge Toulon program and Devi Bhava had ended late that same morning, as soon as Amma arrived at the Milano venue, she headed for the dining room to serve food to everyone. It seemed Amma would never stop passing plates to the many sevites there preparing for the program, but Amma’s smiling face and the Baduga music made the long wait to finally eat one’s pasta a joyous time. Amma didn’t neglect to give a little satsang along with the food. Before we start eating, Amma always reminds us to think of those who…
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Anything can happen- at Toulon
Around midnight during Devi Bhava in Toulon, I decided to take a tour of the venue, frankly hoping to find something interesting to write about. As I walked by the token distribution point, I saw a sign saying- Token distribution is finished. But who knows what can happen? What can happen? Only the Lord knows! I stood there pondering this and wondering how with this huge crowd someone without a token could get one. At that moment a couple arrived and said they had to leave and mistaking me for a token official, they gave me their tokens. I took…
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Seeing Amma in Everything
Soon after Devi Bhava ended at the MA Center in Germany, we began the drive to her program in Houten, Netherlands. We passed through charming small towns with their steeply roofed, two story houses with wooden shutters and window boxes and down through spectacularly beautiful forested hills to the flatter farming country below. Fields of yellow mustard, a symphony of greens, checkered with deep brown, rich soil in neatly plowed fields were a feast for the eye. Here and there a yellow tree had dropped its leaves like a yellow snow shower across a chocolate field. The landscape grew flatter…
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Hard work and a unified spirit- MA Center, Germany
There was great excitement when a program at the MA Center in Germany was listed in the schedule for the Europe tour. This beautiful ashram is a favourite with devotees and it would be the first time Amma would have a program in her own place in Europe. The anticipation was validated by the high level of organization and the good weather that added to the enjoyment of the beautiful outdoor surroundings, with colourful autumn foliage at its peak. Many of the services were offered in plastic tents, so the warmer temperatures were much appreciated. The hall had been converted…
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She who is without judgment
Paris! Just the name evokes impressions of sophistication, the Arts, vibrancy and glamour! Yet the people here are far from superficial. Their enthusiastic and heartfelt response to Amma and interest in meditation and service was truly moving. Even though we were not able to see any of the attractions of Paris, just being here gave a buzz and of course, we were here with the main attraction in Paris right now-Amma! Looking up from our table the second night we saw a wall of cameras focused on a gregarious Frenchman. It was Claude Lelouch, one of the most celebrated film…
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The Center Point
The program in Wnterthur, Switzerland seems to be the Center Point of Europe. The crowd is very diverse. Four nearby countries are well represented: Italy, Germany, Austria and France. This was reflected in the backdrop which featured Amma’s motto, Love and Serve in 5 languages-German English, French, Spanish and Italian. The translation on the screen for Amma’s satsangs, bhajans and archana often included Tamil, as this area is the home to many Sri Lankans of Tamilian origin who took refuge here during the civil war in their native country and now are at home in Switzerland as citizens. Amma often…
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The Dance continues…
One could say that Amma is always dancing. Her every movement is so graceful and captivating. Pondering that, is it because she is always completely relaxed? Or is it because she is always focused, always in meditation? For whatever reason, every movement evokes a delighted response from her devotees. A special treat at the Munich program was watching Amma come and go across a catwalk one story above the floor of the hall from her room to the stage. The moment she left her room, a different musical group each time, dressed in local traditional costumes began to play and…