Category: WithAmma
travelling with amma
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Like filings to the magnet
The days of Amma’s Seattle program unfolded all too quickly. The skies cleared for a few hours every day and many attendees took short walks around the parks and streets where pink, red and white azaleas bloomed. The population of this part of Seattle is thirty per cent Asian and the ethnic mix was noticeable as attendees included devotees of Indian, Chinese, Korean and Japanese origin, giving the program a particularly international flavor. The public program and retreat included many of our “fav” things. Question and answer with Amma, meditating with her and receiving our Prasad dinner from her hand…
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Family Reunion in Seattle
Many of us watched the progression of the Tokyo Devi Bhava on Chimes on Amritapuri.org. This was the last program in Japan before Amma would fly to Seattle and set foot on the North American continent once again. Excitement was mounting as most people had been waiting a year to see Amma again and others were planning to meet her for the first time. Some devotees have expressed that they can actually feel a shift of energy when Amma arrives in the USA. A small group of us flew from the Amma Center of New Mexico to Seattle on a…
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Three Triveni Sangamas
Any confluence of rivers is holy for an Indian. Three Triveni Sangamas became blessed by Amma this India Tour time. How is that? Some of our river- sisters had cherished a dream for a long time. When Amma comes on tours Amma blesses different landscapes with Her presence, Her touch, Her sight and so on. River Kaveri was the luckiest of them all; on Her annual south India tour Amma mostly always stops by the Bhavani with Her children and spends the evening. Each time She has stopped, myths and legends abound the incident. You could browse on the web.…
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Ham ashram ke ayudh bacche hai
All these years it was a common sight on the program site to see a whole lot of Hindi dialect speaking families from neighborhood of the vasant kunj ashram, sitting, squatting, squeaking and spitting all over the dining area. The children had running noses, matted dirty hair, and too gaudy colorful but rag like clothes. They were obviously not Devotees come for Amma’s darshan. They were here for the free meal, and they were here more because nobody asked them to go. They comprised of women and children in the ratio of 1:8 or 1:10. Who were they? They were…
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A drop out from the tour
As i travelled homeward, ie to Amritapuri, from Mangalore, once again tried to take a look at Amma’s Indian tour from yet another perspective… How does a drop out from the tour feel? The previous day, even as the program ended around 3-30 am, with five groups performing padapuja to Sadguru Amma, and Amma’s mellifluous singing of Bandalo, i was feeling something choking in my throat. In a few hours from then, the progam place looked dull, with crowds gone, chairs stacked, stalls pulled down, trucks getting loaded, sound system packed, canopies removed, kitchen winding up, and the stage turned…
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Spiritual journey outside as well as inside
As the North Indian tour per say came to an end, long drives ended. So did lunch or chai stops with Amma. It was time for Amma to ask us this most pertinent question. What kind of a tour/pilgrimage was it? Was it a pilgrimage at all? What lesson did each one of us learn from this tour? Many of Amma’s western children come travelling half the globe only to join in this spiritual journey, and leave soon after. Their earnestness, their openness to experience and learning is all expressed so well in their responses as the mike is passed…
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Amma’s Divine Show
She is the director of the divine shows conducted for her children at every place she visits. The stage is decorated, people assemble… AMMA, the divine performer comes on to stage. A glimpse of her brings joy, tears, a smile, and devotion to her children’s hearts. She is humble, loving, beautiful, with her enchanting smile. This is the only show where people come without taking any ticket, and go back with hearts filled with joy. They forget their problems watching and listening to her soulful bhajans. It is the only show where each person gets the chance to meet the…
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Birds in free air
On the tour, among other things Amma posed before us two questions, on two different occasions. At a lunch stop before Vishakhapatnam Amma asked, “Children, do you want to be terrestrial birds or birds in the free air?” Those days the drives were longer than time of stay in a place. Over two days’ drive for a two day program in Puna to begin with; and over three day dive for two day program in Calcutta for ex. The long distance drives were trying on our bodies. The brief stops didn’t give us any respite or rest. We had found…
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‘Flying with Amma’ and ‘Bhajan or Bhojan’
With Amma it is always like this. There are surprises after surprises and yet something basic doesn’t change even with two sets of scores of years. For Ex. Amma’s darshan has been just in the same manner as years ago. However this year on tour Amma added several new surprises. One of them was flight gift. As Amma had fallen short of time for Swami Vivekananada’s 150 birthday celebration inauguration function, as She was in Puna and Bombay for Her annual programs, Amma had to fly from Bombay to Delhi. Amma opened the chance for Ammamas of the ashram to…