Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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Pushing towards the goal
22 January 2008 – Pondicherry Since the first night in Coimbatore, some of the Western women have been called to do crowd control at the beginning of darshan. We form a line against the railing leading to the stage, hands linked together, prepared to stop the local devotees from jumping over the railings to the front of the darshan queue. We all know bhajans are coming to an end; I look at an Indian woman with a mischievous grin on her face. She knows why I am there. It is her role to try and get over the railing and…
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puduvai to chennai
22 jan chennai, bharata yatra 2008 the program in puduvai (this is the tamil name for puducherry ) went very well. the crowd was amazingly patient. amma gave darshan till 9.am. and left straight to chennai. there are beautiful landscapes on either side. but i was too tired to enjoy the ride. so i cocooned into myself. we reached chennai by 1.pm. most of the tour group are staying with amma in the ashram buildings. some are put up next door. the weather is humid and 31C. all have gone to bed. see u later. namah sivaya – dhyanamrita
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Papillion in Pondi
If you could take on another life form and come and visit Amma, what would it be? This evening, in Pondicherry, a beautiful black butterfly with what looked like yellow and red markings was fluttering around the stage during darshan. Not just once, but a number of times it came. Over the course of a few hours. Where did it go in between visits? Perhaps to tell a few friends to come. Or to go off and sit on a flower of one of the many decorations that covered the stage and bask in the nectar of bliss it had…
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Fate of oysters
20 Jan 2008, Bhavani While waiting for Amma to arrive at the Bhavani river, many of the brahmacharis started sharing stories of their experiences with Amma from the old days. I heard one amazing story, and would like to share it with everyone. One brahmachari has been with Amma for a long time, more than 25 years. Once, he was near Amma when there were only 3 brahmacharis in a group. Amma asked them if any of them has a shawl. This brahmachari was the only one who had one. Amma told him to come with her, and they left…
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swimming in memories
20 jan, bhavani, bharata yatra 2008 on the way to pondicherry we stopped at bhavani river. bhavani opens a flood-gate of fond memories. bhavani is a fascinating place. this is where amma started swimming with the children who travel with her during indian tours. during the yatras ‘bhavani stop’ was an unavoidable one. amma used to stay here (many times we stayed here 24 to 48 hours ) during the trips. we would the rent a room, pour buckets of water and clean it for amma to stay. there was no good lodging facility. the small rest house would be…
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The sacrificing Mother
As Amma moves to Pondicherry tomorrow, and continues to give darshan to yet another 50000 or so people, sacrificing Herself as usual, I remembered what Sri Aurobindo, the sage of Pondicherry had to say of the Divine Mother. Did He forsee that one day , the Divine Mother he writes so passionately about, would actually do this- not only descend, but personally start hugging her myriad children and consoling them one by one by one?…in an unprecedented act of Love hitherto unseen in all of human history? The sacrifice he writes about fits Amma so perfectly: “The Mother not only…
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from covai to pondy
20 jan, covai, bharata yatra 2008 it was the badugas again who rocked the last sessions on both days in covai. they sang for 3-4 hours non stop. different sets of people danced in front of amma, below the stage. amongst them was one particular lady who sang on top of her voice, with closed eyes, her face radiating devotion and bliss. amma also had made a reference about their devotion. they are indeed blessed to to get an opportunity to come, sing and dance in front of amma. the darshan finished at 6.30 in the morning. after the programs…
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Dancing to the Music
19 Jan, Coimbatore — Bharata Yatra Today Amma led the sani puja. The first part starts 6:30 p.m., with a talk by a brahmachari. At 7:30 or so, Amma came down to lead the puja. At about 9:00, Amma was ready to lead the bhajans, before concluding the last part. At this time, she said, ‘if you have any leg pain, you can stand up.’ This was translated in Tamil, and a few people stood. But the Westerners couldn’t understand, so all of them stoop up. At this Amma laughed. After some time, they figured it out, but one man…
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jai jai kar
19 jan, covai — bharata yatra 2008all the time pujas led by amma are very powerful — pujas led by god herself. when you think about it, wow!….. it’s a totally different feeling. and todays sani puja in covai was no exceptional. the bhajans amma sang were all very powerful fast ones. it was so powerful that in the gap of the second and third song, one of the devotees from the west stood up and called out ‘mata rani ki’ and the devotees responded ‘jai’. he repeated again and again. amma looked at him and smiled – ‘ mata rani…