Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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Oil painting
20 Jan 2008 I am writing with my still-yellowed turmeric-stained hands as evidence of my participation in the Rahu Puja this morning. And I have learned that when one waits for breakfast and arrives late for one’s veggie chopping seva, one has a greater chance of receiving the dullest knife, the largest cabbage, and a lovely spot in the direct sun on a steeply-slanted dirt slope. With cutting boards balanced precariously on our laps and a new appreciation for the stubbornness of cabbage, we chanted softly to Archana (chanted by the men this time around) and then to the local…
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sit quiet and relax
18 jan 2008, covai In the evening when amma was talking there were lots of noises. sounds of people talking and talking. she finished her talk started meditation. amma asked every one to keep silence. because they were all trying to jump into the darshan queue. but it would take another one hour to start darshan, after amma’s bhajans. amma insisted that everybody should keep silence. hearing the ‘talking crowd’ amma said that when you are in a train there is no point in running forward to reach your destination faster. the train will take you there. only when it…
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New Bhajan Time
18 Jan 2008, Covai It’s that time of year again. the time when new bhajans flow forth. Lyrics are penned and new melodies are composed for the upcoming tours. For many, they will become the defining sounds of 2008. The two evenings before the South Indian Tour, after dinner, Amma headed to the stage in the main hall to practice and record the new bhajans. Over a dozen are there. Only the musicians and composers were permitted inside on the stage. The first night, Amma stayed past 3am. A few people sat outside, their ears pressed against the door hoping…
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Devoted in Covai
18 jan 2008, Covai Here is Amma’s first program this year in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is a place with a really deep spiritual culture, probably the home of more saints then anywhere else. The culture is seen in the devotees coming for darshan. There is many smiling faces, lots of devotion.. During the archana, I sat near one four-member family. The mother and father were deeply immersed in the chanting, even though their two young ones (maybe 6 and 9) were disturbing them, trying to find just the right way to rest on them. This really amazed me, that…
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Signs
18 Jan 2008, coimbatoreThe other day I was discussing with one senior brahmachari about how many devotees who come to see Amma for the first time have extraordinary experiences. One example he said was a woman who had a dream where Amma appeared and gave her two coins, which she found in her hands when she woke up. Though she had never met Amma before, she came for darshan and asked Amma what to do with the coins. Amma replied by telling her to keep them in her puja room. Like this, how many thousands have unexplainable and extraordinary experiences…
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And the Tour Begins
18 Jan 2008, Covai Sitting on the second floor balcony, swaddled in my sari and caressing the last remnants of my morning chai, I am enjoying the morning sun – not yet burning with the ferocity that will later send me searching for shade. My charkas spin and dance to the vibrations of the second recitation of the thousand names of the Divine Mother drifting up from the stage below. I am remembering a scene from the night before that will continue to bring tears to my eyes for the rest of this lifetime. With hands pressed together in front…
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typical tamil touch
17 jan 2008, covai we reached covai past 8 p.m. amma was welcomed in the traditional way. now wherever amma goes people call out “mata rani ki jai”. its nice to watch the love and devotion in action in amma’s children. tamil people are characteristically very vociferous. i fail to understand why they speak so loudly. normal conversation itself is at a very high volume. their sound box has extra watts output – both men and women. but i love them. may be god has created them that way. the temperature in covai is cold as compared to amritapuri. it…
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Bharata Yatra 2008 flagged off
17 Jan 2007, amritapuri amma started her bharata yatra 2008. in the first leg amma will travel through tamil nadu and come bak to amritapuri. past mid noon amma started off to coimbatore. other ashram buses with the residents and visitors from abroad left early in the morning. its a journey of 7-8 hours to coimbatore. its 4.40 pm now. we are only halfway through the 320 k.m. the traffic is very heavy. we hope to reach there by evening. now posting this blog on my way to coimbatore, traveling behind amma’s camper. i hope to write some time, keep…
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Are we there?
24 December 2007, Kodungallur During the last night’s program, we were told that there was a bus strike starting the next day and to pack and get on the bus by 2 a.m. I quickly did so and noticed my behavior as almost an unfamiliar person: no panic, no irritation, anger or even disappointment. This is Amma’s grace. She wants us to learn these things and in Her presence She gives us the direct experience through the power of Her own energy. A challenge is to maintain this ability after I leave, to sustain these new energetic vibrations she instills…