Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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Stop before Tirunelveli
28 Jan, 2008 Before sunset, Amma stopped in an empty field with the traveling devotees. Amma’s chair was placed facing the fading sun, and all the devotees crowded around. As the sun set, Amma spent some time with everyone meditating. After meditation, Amma and Swamiji tried out a newly tuned Malayalam bhajan; Amma was making corrections to the song. Here are the lyrics; ‘satyasvarupamam nityaprakashame pratyaksha devate, vishvamate.’ ‘Oh embodiment of Truth, Eternal Light, percievable God, Universal Mother!’ ‘Through thousands of births, I have searched to attain your divine presence.’ Then Amma sang some of the other new bhajans, mostly…
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Kali’s sword
28 Jan, 2008 I asked for it. But never could I have imagined that it would happen this way… or hurt so bad. Kali’s way can be mysterious and decisively severe. While separated from Amma during the European Tour, I was studying yoga in the Himalayan foothills. Each day, I sought refuge at the nearby Ramakrishna Math. There, poems to Kali flowed from my pen like water from a tap. I gave Amma a series of these poems when I returned to Amritapuri. The theme was consistent… I have grown weary of the suffering brought on from my own tenacious…
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Entomologist’s dream
28 Jan 2008, Thirunelvali, Tamil Nadu Amma’s public programmes are generally held in large outdoor fields. There is a huge stage on one end which is covered by a shed. Then the crowd extends out for perhaps two or three football fields – depending on the grounds. When Amma comes to one of these cities, millions attend. No, not millions of people. Millions of bugs. Last year, I wrote about the onslaught of winged ants during the Madurai public programs. It hasn’t been that bad, but there have been plenty of bugs on this tour. It’s an entomologist’s dream. Sitting…
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A Contrast of Colors
Thirunelvali One only has to look out at the women’s side of the crowd from the stage to see a rainbow of colors. There are all shades, all hues, all varieties. As if Amma herself threw the entire universal palette of paint into the crowd. Landing on the different embodied jivas, perhaps representing the color of their personal aura for the day. Pastels, neons, creams. The men’s side, however, is a different story. Business shirts, button down, with pockets and collars. White, off white, light colors. Dark slacks or dhotis. Not much there. Unispiring. A cultural anthropologist may have something…
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Controlled Chaos
Chennai The Chennia ashram is the only one of Amma’s Ashrams I’ve been to that lies directly on a main street in the city. The Ashram itself four stories high with the main hall on the ground floor. Literally just out front is a bustling street – two lanes in each direction. The police have blocked off one lane for the Ashram buses to drop off people and for the crowd to form a line. They stop traffic for people to cross over. There’s a shoe stall and cloak room just next door. Hundreds of pairs of shoes stacked on…
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corner of the nectar pot
27 jan 2008, kumbhakonam we reached kumbhakonam well past one’o clock in the morning. the accommodation was arranged in the guest house of a devotee. that was 21 km away from the town. we drove through the village. it was so remote even mobile connection was not possible. (now in india every village has mobile connectivity. do you know that india is the leading country in mobile connectivity?) in front of the guest house, there was a temple of lord siva and parvati, and a big temple pond. this very old temple is currently under renovation. the name of the…
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Chennai to Kumbhakonam
25 jan, chennai to kumbhakonam, bharata yatra 2008 two days program in chennai is over. all of us started off to kumbhakonam in the afternoon. for a long time we were travelling by the smooth seashore road. the beauty of the vast blue ocean was intercepted by the isolated palm trees. on the right side fields were empty where the villagers make salt from sea water. we drove past mahabali puram, a beautiful historic place. there are temples just by the sea built by the pallava kings. some of them are in a single stone. amazing work and architecture. it…
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Chennai Bhajans
Here is the bhajan lists for the two days in Chennai;First day, morning1. Varuvai Varuvai (Tamil)2. Manasa Chora Radha Krishna3. Amma Amma Ena Unne (New Tamil bhajan)4. Adi ParaShakti (Telugu)5. Hridaya Pushpame (Malayalam)6. Om Namah Shivaya7. Makaranda Madhurya (Telugu)8. Jay Jay Janani Jay Ho Teri (Hindi) First day, evening1. Tumbikai (new Tamil bhajan)2. Sri Krishna Sharanam3. New Tamil bhajan4. Om Shakti Om Shakti (Tamil)5. New Tamil Bhajan6. Pratiloma Shakti Tan (Malayalam)7. Vilvatall Architom (New Tamil bhajan)8. Ambe Jagadambe (Hindi) Second day, morning1. Radhe Krishna Radhe Krishna2. Nin Ormakal (Malayalam)3. Amma enta svantamayi4. Om Namah Shivaya5. Chutuniri Kannunir6. Jhopadi (new Punjabi…
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Divine Security Guard
The crowds in Tamil Nadu are notorious for being impatient. This year in Coimbatore, Amma had to tell everyone to sit quiet for the meditation, and in Puducherry, she asked everyone to not be impatient while coming for darshan. A group of about ten Westerners takes care of the crowd security, a seva that puts them in interesting situations. One incident happened with security in Puducherry. When Amma was arriving down the carpet to the stage, an unknown Western lady with a backpack jumped over the barrier and stood in Amma’s path. Before anyone could act, Amma simply embraced the…