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Birds in the rainy season
Even as rainy season is on, song of birds never ceases in Amritapuri. Like the nature poet John Keats said, ‘Poetry of the earth is never dead.’ Robins and bulbuls feel gloomy to sing as much as they did last month, but can’t stop singing altogether, you see. Especially in the morning hours. That’s after the archana. How can the birds not do their archana? But the curious woodpeckers or flame backs screech in joy as they fly from one tree bark to another. Kingfishers still trill their shrill tunes. Tree pies crackle as they fly from one tree to…
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Amma is going to sing!
The experienced devotees watch for signs: a stirring among the musicians, gathering of cameramen, a flurry at the sound system…the intent and intense begin to jockey for position, the closer the better. Unfortunately, this usually leads to the same savvy and experienced folks scoring the “best” spots near Amma at practically every venue. However, Amma has her ways, and practically anyone can be catapulted into the perfect spot to experience Amma’s divine bliss in song. However, the real “perfect spot” has little to do with proximity, but tuning of the mind and heart. After the excellent view from the place…
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Q210: Restless Mind?
Question 210: Amma says: “Our mind is restless because wherever we go, we find fault and look for defects in others.” How do you understand this? Please make your answer brief and clear (maximum 5 or 6 lines).
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My Eternal Guru
O my guiding light, I am incomplete without you… Everyday… I sit alone, walk alone, Laugh alone with no shine in my foam… I see you through a beam… Do i miss you or does my soul ? O compassionate one… My humble pranams… You will be always my lovely hearted Kali Maa.. by Anagha Sharan
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In the land of Lincoln with Amma
The lush farmland of Northern Illinois glowed hazily in the slanting light of the setting sun as we drove from our hotel to the M.A. Center of Chicago. Tonight, June 30, 2012, the Center, located in rural Elburn, was being officially inaugurated by Amma and the Honorable Patrick Quinn, Govenour of Illinois as well as other local officials. An attractive reddish trapezoidal sculpture cum signpost beckoned us up the curving driveway under classic American maple trees to the huge main hall of the Center. Directed by a bevy of orange jacketed devotee parking attendants, we joined several hundred other parked…
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Unity in the Land of Enchantment
All year long they wait. Devotees from the Southwest and others from all over the country and abroad who have heard about, or experienced the magic of Amma in New Mexico, (whose state motto is “Land of Enchantment”), wait for those few days in June when Amma arrives. However, the devotees don’t just wait. They begin preparing in the autumn with the launch of the program guide advertising sales, and organizational meetings begin in January before the June program. This may seem like a very early start, especially considering the lightening speed with which the programs are organized in India. …
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Bless me Mother
Purity smiles from her eyes. Freshness flowers on her cheeks. An ocean of compassion heaves, in the fathoms of her eyes. Fragrance of love blooms, all on her body, in her actions. Every aspect reflects on her, from micro to macro. Each thought, each expression, each sorrow and happiness, passes through her. The strangeness, n’ wonders of nature comes and goes off her. I can hear her singing; when I sing. I see her crying when I cry. When I smile she smiles. When I am angry she is angry too. Every spec of action reacts by me. But she…
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Q209: Fighting negativity?
Question 209: Amma says: “Become aware of the negative tendencies in you, and weaken them through cultivating good thoughts, rather than fighting with them.” How do you understand this? Please make your answer brief and clear (maximum 5 or 6 lines).
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Birds and Birds here!
Over a decade ago, once Amma was talking to the ashram residents from the US over the phone. We were calling out “Amma! Amma!” expressing how much we were missing her, and Amma said “Oh, if Amma were a bird she would come flying to you, children!” Now while Amma is again on Her annual US Yatra, Amritapuri’s air is bursting with birdsong: Robins, tailor birds, sunbirds, mynas, koels, barbets, bulbuls, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and the inevitable crow -sometimes in turns, but mostly in unison- sing to the sea and the sun every dawn and dusk. A person with knowledge about…
