Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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Fulfiller of wishes
Yesterday was truly a wonderful day for many near Amma. Amma seemed ever fresh even at 10 pm after almost 12 hours of Darshan. I was sitting in the hall beside her. Amma was jokingly chatting on with a small kid who sat beside her after receiving Darshan. Amma asked him if he knew bhajans and what else. The kid chatted loudly with Amma. With little brother and they were singing simple lines in broken Tamil with Amma. Amma was also talking back to them asking them to sing a few joy-focusing bhajans. Taking things to another extreme, from afar,…
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Supreme Consciousness Arrives at Amritapuri
2 Dec 2013, Amritapuri Archana was chanted an hour early at 4am. By shortly after 5am the whole ashram was lined up from the gate to Amma’s room for her expected arrival at 6-6:30am. Even people who will not normally spend 2 minutes in a Q without complaining or cutting it, patiently waited, even chanting their mantra peacefully! We began to get updates. Mobiles have some advantages. She’s left airport. She’s at Attingal. She passed Parippally (did not stop). She is at Kollam. Now she is at Karunagappally!!!!! She’s on the beach road!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone is smiling. Hands folded in prayer…
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Back at Amritapuri
Back at Amritapuri, the Europe tour now becomes a beautiful memory and not a day to day adventure. Other lucky people are still on tour with Amma in the USA. However, it is also lucky to be at Amma’s ashram where there is construction everywhere for new housing. Looks like a lot more people are coming to Amritapuri to visit and live, both short and long term! And everywhere there is cleaning, paint and refurbishing to greet Amma and the hoards of people that are already beginning to arrive for the holiday season. There is fresh light sand covering the…
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With Gratitute
A westerner living in Amritapuri commonly has the chance to leave India for Amma’s various Western tours at least once or twice a year. After living consecutively in Amritapuri for four years I found myself in Europe for the first time ever, tears streaming from my heart and down my eyes at the sight, sense, and beauty of Amma embracing her western children in Manheim and then again Milano. I cannot describe the utter infinite beauty of Amma’s love for us…after taking for normal this blessed life to serve her so intimately, I was struck by the importance of Amma’s…
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Takkalee at Lou Paradou
After the massive Toulon program, Amma drove to her ashram near the historic town Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume where Mary Magdelene is said to be buried. The ashram building was once an old mill and a river flows behind it and a stream under it, which once powered the mill wheel. A small waterfall is within view down a short path to the side of the structure. The buildings are made of thousands of small stones cemented together with lime. Like Hof Herrenberg, the German ashram, the ashram is adjacent to horse farms and we enjoyed watching the young foals run circles around…
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A few words about bathrooms
Normally one would not write a post about bathrooms. But then, we aren’t usually talking about “Amma” bathrooms! The facilities at Amma’s programs are amazingly decorated. It is a joy to enter them. Each city and country has a different flavor. In Switzerland, the decorations were vines and autumn flowers. In Berlin, lovely paper hearts, cut from gift wrapping paper, adorned each stall door. In fact, paper hearts were everywhere in Berlin. In Mannheim, the bathrooms had inspiring quotes taped in strategic locations and roses in glass dishes filled with pebbles adorned the sinks! Guru Kripa incense kept any offensive…
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Kozhakatta Bhava
During Devi Bhava in Berlin a devotee brought Amma a traditional Indian sweet, kozhakatta. It is a healthy sweet made of steamed rice flour with coconut and sweetening inside. (Many of us were first introduced to this sweet in Calcutta, when Amma spontaneously made them herself for the tour group and local volunteers.) Amma showed a lot of interest in the sweet and shortly afterward she told the kitchen to make 1000 of them. This was 3 a.m. in the morning! The staff jumped into action and had a lot of fun setting up an assembly line to make the…
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Beautifying one’s existence is happiness
It was a nice evening at Berlin and many devotees had queued in for the second program of the day. There were claps after every Bhajan and a pin drop silence during the guided meditation. Amma’s Darshan had started and lines were not very small. The hall was the Velodrome, a big arena with a cycling track. As night turned into morning, Amma started speeding Darshan since there was a curfew at 2:30am. It was almost time and a lady with a letter came to Amma. One of the Darshan assistants read the letter to Amma and the lady had…
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Amma’s Munich visit
Amma’s Munich children welcomed Her for a three day program on October 12, which marked Amma’s 26th visit to the city. Munich, the capital of Bavaria and the third largest city in Germany, derives its name from the Old High German place name of ‘Munichen,’ which means ‘By the monks’ place.’ Amma’s entrance to the Kulturhalle Zenith hall on the first day was celebrated with the singing of the national hymn of Germany, the lyrics of which had been altered to honour Amma. The local devotees also marked Amma’s recent 60th birthday celebration on September 27th with belated birthday wishes.…