Om Nama Shivaya.<\/p>\n
I would like to share this with readers of the website.\u00a0 Amma visited the Canadian Ashram prior to the public program and retreat.
\nWhat a wonderful treat Canadians had when Amma arrived in Canada on July 19, 2008.
\nAmma arrived on Canadian soil at approximately 9p.m.\u00a0 At about 10pm, Her car drew up at the Canadian ashram grounds.\u00a0 Before Amma’s arrival, there was a heavy downpour which lasted for hours.\u00a0\u00a0 It was as if the Yamuna river as flooding again as on the night Lord Krishna was born.\u00a0\u00a0 This time, Canadian soil and roads were being cleansed in preparation of Devi.<\/p>\n
Devotees were busy decorating the Ashram in anticipation of Amma’s arrival.\u00a0 The ashram kitchen was a hive of activity as the women folk went about busy as bees preparing food to be served upon Amma’s arrival.<\/p>\n
It was a night full of excitement and anxiety.\u00a0\u00a0 For many of us we have been hungry for Amma’s physical form since last July.\u00a0\u00a0 Several times we heard people whisper Amma was arriving at 8pm, and then at 9pm ect.\u00a0 Finally at 9pm, we received a call from Swami saying that they had just crossed the border.\u00a0 The program at Boston was delayed and Amma left late, hence the wait.<\/p>\n
At 10pm the Goddess arrived and was greeted by all Her children.\u00a0 Devotees lined the pathway to the Ashram with oil lamps to invite Amma. As she walked into the Ashram, rose petals were sprinkled on the ground.<\/p>\n
Amma walked into the Ashram, smiled at all of us and sat down at the altar to do puja.\u00a0\u00a0 She performed the most simple yet beautiful puja I have ever witnessed.\u00a0 The prayers were something like this “God as You are my provider, please look after me and I trust that whatever You do, is for my good.\u00a0 Make me not want nor seek as I know you will watch over me and ensure that I have enough to sustain”.\u00a0 It goes on and on but I think it just said what all of us say to God (Amma) in our daily prayers.\u00a0 The puja was followed by a bhajan with Swami Ramakrishna on the harmonium.<\/p>\n
After the puja, Amma turned around and asked for prasad to be served.\u00a0 At this point, someone said that we had actually prepared a meal.\u00a0 Amma looked at the Swamis and before anyone knew what was happening, the Swamis were in the kitchen and in position. \ud83d\ude42\u00a0\u00a0 Amma then sat at a table in the kitchen and plates went flying from Amma\u00a0 to devotees hands.\u00a0 It was just like when Amma feeds us at retreats.\u00a0 Although She was tired, She was full of compassion and served us food knowing our hearts have been waiting for Her arrival.<\/p>\n
Amma then sat and spoke with all Her children.\u00a0\u00a0 She told us to live in truth. That is one of the most important things in life.\u00a0 In fact, She said, that should be our daily mantra.\u00a0 Devotees also asked Amma if she liked the Ashram and She said yes.\u00a0\u00a0 As she was talking to us, someone walked up to Amma and asked her to wear some sandals as the floor was cold.\u00a0 To this, Amma said ” I am\u00a0 a village girl, I grew up without sandals and shoes.\u00a0 So it is alright, I am comfortable without them.\u00a0\u00a0 Amma wears shoes and sandals to please Her children.\u00a0 Also you cannot go into some places without shoes or sandals like hotels and airports; that is why Amma wears them”.\u00a0\u00a0 I just thought that it was so beautiful and needed to share.<\/p>\n
Amma then walked through the area and looked around the Ashram.\u00a0 As it was late at night, She was unable to walk through the grounds.\u00a0\u00a0 We were made to understand that Amma returned to the Ashram before leaving to India and saw the entire property.\u00a0 She also left many instructions.\u00a0 Looks like there will be no lack of seva \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
At about midnight, Amma and the Swamis left for the hotel.\u00a0 All of us gathered around Her car and some of us were hanging out of the Ashram windows and bid farewell to Amma.\u00a0 After all, in a few hours we would be back in her arms as the public program was scheduled to start the following morning.<\/p>\n
Thank you Amma for blessing us and our new home in Canada.<\/p>\n
At Amma’s lotus feet,
\nMaalanair<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Om Nama Shivaya. I would like to share this with readers of the website.\u00a0 Amma visited the Canadian Ashram prior to the public program and retreat. What a wonderful treat Canadians had when Amma arrived in Canada on July 19, 2008. Amma arrived on Canadian soil at approximately 9p.m.\u00a0 At about 10pm, Her car drew […]<\/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":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-with-amma"],"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\/801","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=801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e.amritapuri.org\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}