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<\/p>\nWhen Amma sends her emissary, it is as though a very special messenger had come directly from her heart.\u00a0 You sense her presence, her purpose, her commitment to her work,but most of all, you sense her love.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A year and a half ago in August of 2008, Br. Shantamrita Chaitanya came to Manila to teach the Integrated Amrita Meditation Technique, and those students have happily kept his efforts and Amma alive in their hearts.\u00a0 We met weekly at a private residence (actually, my living room), week in and week out for the next 18 months. So, when he returned this time in mid-January, although still in diapers, I think we were able to crawl a little bit out of our playpen and respond to him with greater receptivity and more understanding.\u00a0 The chants were no longer so foreign, and at our satsang we hosted a large group with confidence — regular attendance had doubled.<\/p>\n
But what is it to grow in practice and in purpose?\u00a0 What was initially a divine romance with Amma had blossomed for Lucy and me into, I think, a life-long commitment…You know, the prayer “Amma, don’t ever let go of me, keep me in the grip of your love.”\u00a0 Somehow, I think that has become our prayer too.<\/p>\n
Seeing Shantamrita-ji on the stage addressing the devotees and guests and leading the chants lent so much validity to our efforts. I mean, the days when it was just the two of us chanting, reinforcing each other and often wondering, \u201cWhat are we doing?\u201d\u00a0 Some satsangs were better than others, but the whole point was just to persevere and find strength in other staunch devotees.\u00a0 For us, Tana and Jamby Madrigal were the pillars and creators of our little group and dedicated, tireless Shantamrita-ji, even if he came for so little time and was gone for so long.<\/p>\n
But always it is Amma, from beginning to end, it is Amma.<\/p>\n
That is how I felt too, in Tagaytay some 100 kilometers from Metro Manila, where we had organized some 48 families, and the mothers came for their first Satsang.\u00a0 What a priviledge to have Shantamrita-ji speak and with such clarity, about goodness and faith, and making tangible the illusive concept of God.\u00a0 The women, almost all uneducated, were able to grasp the whys and wherefores of Amma, because, she was there.\u00a0 She loved them enough, poor though they were, unschooled, with narry a clue as to the greatness that was before them, to send them Shantamrita-ji.<\/p>\n
Of course, when presenting Shantamrita Chaitanya to my poor neighbors in the countryside I cried. I cried because I could not believe what a little love on my part could awaken in my Amma.\u00a0 I cried because I knew she loved me as she loved my poor friends, and she loved me for loving them.\u00a0 And what is love but Amma. Tears are a litmus test indicative of the points in our journey when the heart unknots the hard coil of skepticism and begins to feel again.\u00a0 Embraced by Amma, awakened by her touch to the truth of her message; the impact of her actions, the magnitude of her love elevates us, makes us weep.\u00a0 We cannot but see, all that can be, because of all that she is.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Tomorrow, Shantaji will be leaving Manila, Philippines for Tokyo, Japan.\u00a0 I cannot believe all that is in store for him to do, but he has Amma.\u00a0 And that is more than enough.\u00a0 He left us many good memories; an example of service to Amma that is terribly difficult to emulate; and quite unusual rainfall, in January, for Manila.\u00a0 The Maha Sudharshan Homa and the Maja Ganapathy Homa were almost too effective, so powerful, that even the heavens responded, with rain.\u00a0 But who can resist the supplications of Amma for the disciples who cannot but love, such a Goddess of Compassion?<\/p>\n
What can we say, Amma, except:\u00a0 THANK YOU!<\/p>\n
Grace<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Amma sends her emissary, it is as though a very special messenger had come directly from her heart.\u00a0 You sense her presence, her purpose, her commitment to her work,but most of all, you sense her love. A year and a half ago in August of 2008, Br. Shantamrita Chaitanya came to Manila to teach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}