Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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Kolkata Brahmasthanam
19 March 2008, Kolkata The calculated auspicious time for the Sthapana and Prana Pratistha was between 8.30 am and 10 am. I got up well in advance in order to be ready to experience the auspicious moment in all it’s splendor. Since we are far from South-India where the crowds for such occasions are huge, I decided to make the best out of the situation and went looking for a good spot from where I could witness the inauguration as close up as possible. The sky was clear and a tranquil mood pervaded the ashram. Devotees were carrying chairs to…
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Arriving in Kolkata
Arriving in Kolkata – The last stop on the tour 17 Mar 2008, Kolkata After the Mangalore program I went back to the ashram but could not bear the thought of missing the inauguration of the Brahmasthanam temple here at Amma’s Kolkata Ashram and not seeing Amma before she departs India. I was not alone in feeling so as there were about one hundred other ashramites who took the same train. We reached the Kolkata ashram about one hour before Amma and there was already a feeling of anticipation everywhere with devotees lined up in front of her room and…
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sweet punishment
16 march, itava, uutarpradesh, bharata yatra 2008 the four-lane road to calcutta is beautiful. on either side of the road was spread the fields of cultivation. rice, wheat, mustard.. now its time for the potatoes. big, really big fields of potatoes. the machine ploughs the ground and farmers pickup the potatoes and clean the dirt. you could see sacks full of golden potatoes stacked by the road side to be taken to the market. we stopped for lunch by a roadside ashram – eksharananda ashram. amma served everyone lunch. after it has been served, we would chant gita 15th chapter,…
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sacred land
15 march , delhi to calcutta, bharata yatra 2008. today is a loooong trip — by the road to calcutta, it is abut 1500 km. from the north to east of india cutting through the states of haryana, uttarpradesh, bihar and then to west bengal. when passing through the state of uttarpradesh, we saw yamuna river where sri krishna used to dance with the gopis on its banks. then we passed through mathura, where sri krishna was born, vrindavan where he did the rasalila, govardhan where he lifted the mountain, …..wow. when you see the sign boards by the high…
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mantra miracle
13 march, bharata yatra 2008, delhi one little girl about 12 years old asked amma for mantra. last year also she has asked for mantra. but only this time amma gave it. the next day when i saw her she said the mantra has changed her so much. i asked her what was the change. ‘you wont believe it,’ she said. i said ‘i believe you.’what did the manta do?.’ pointing to her heart she said ‘its still ringing here. its is so powerful’ ‘ok. what was the change?’ i asked. ‘my anger was reduced.’ ‘with whom you are angry…
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sivaratri with amma
5 march, bharata yatra 2008, amdavad to jaipur we started to jaipur. the journey was through the fields of onion, sesame, pomegranates. the road was beautiful. once the fields finished, the beautiful waves of mountains started on either side. as we entered rajasthan, the cultivation fields almost stopped. once in a while you see some small wheat cultivation. most of the fields are used to mine marble. you don’t get water easily here. only marble. i don’t know how people live here. it was sivaratri day. we stopped for the evening. amma started playing tamborine. swamiji started with dolak. one…
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not without reason
4 march, bharata yatra 2008, amdavad, gujarat amdavad was a typical programe of gujju (gujaratis). men wear meters long turban, ladies wear saris with their frills from the back to the front. they hang a bunch of keys on their hip. the city was terribly dusty. days were hot and the nights were cold. during amma’s darshan, there were beautiful dances of children of amritavidyalayam, amdavad. after the beautiful dance of vidyalayam children, the teachers danced to the tune of bhangra. the devotees also joined. it was so beautiful. only when you understand the children, you can be with them…
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opening the eyes
29 feb, bharata yatra 2008, mumbai mumbai was too hot. luckily there were little mosquitos this time. at the end of darshan, a little boy sitting on his fathers hip told amma that he knows mantras. he chanted ‘lokah samasthah sukhino bhavanthu.’ amma told him, “its not enough to chant the mantra; you have serve the world.” there was a cute scene during the baby feeding. a baby was fully asleep when he was brought to amma for feeding. amma tried to wake him up. she blew on his face, sprinkled water on his eyes, but he wouldn’t wake. amma…
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gods birthday
27 feb, bharatayatra 2008, pune pune was dusty. it was very cold at night. at about 2 am. the temp suddenly dropped below 14 degrees. the small wind that blew across the ground made it worse. still people withstood the climate for darshan. the warmth of amma’s love was covering them. after sunrise, when the darshan was coming to a close, the devotees of pune came with a cake saying happy birthday. but whose birthday? they said it was amma’s birthday. about 10 or so children wearing happy birthday conical paper hats and streamers in hand were standing behind amma.…