posted by Kamala on Jan 24
Dearest Friends and Family,
We went to Amritapuri for Link’s vacation. For the first time since Anni left, I felt happiness bubbling in my heart again. Our Precious Amma has always said that for those who visit the Ashram, it is heaven, for those who live there, it is the Kurukshetra, the battle field, wherein we confront continuously our small-self in our reactions, the need to use our discrimination adroitly, to exercise equanimity of mind, to react with love instead of defence or anger.
Anyhow, for Link and I, we were in heaven. To be in Amma’s Blessed Presence, although we did not go near Her that often, was such a joy. For Her, with Her, by Her, to be where the ideal stands as clearly as it does in Amritapuri, is a great heaven on Earth. Because of Amma alone, the very sands at Amritapuri chorus in a divine gladness that She is there. We were really able to see how Amritapuri is a spiritual university of the highest and most glorious order.
We used the `happy returnee’ bhava to blaze our love into as many hearts that were previously frozen towards us as possible, which was also great fun. Anni’s song, I See Now, was our mantra – “So when the times get rough, get spicy, people around all acting icy, I know that You Always are here, yes, I know that You always are here.” It was so nice to see that underneath the carefully nursed ice, were actually hearts longing to love. Something to bear in mind in your own days, don’t let the ice grow anywhere that you can help it. Ridiculous stuff, that ice.
There were many adventures, it felt like each day was actually three days, the intensity was so strong. We made a small video to explain the Umbrella 2012 The Creation project, if you are interested to participate, click here:
Umbrella Project 2012, The Creation
We even sang 3 songs to Her that those precious Ears had not heard. Our new song, Starting to Rise, which Karthik Shah’s genius made fantastic, Link’s Take Me There from the Album, and Karthik Shah’s Do It Now, which is on Aparna Ashok’s documentary, Active Compassion: Our Role for a Better World. This documentary is available as a free viewing at our publishing site: www.wiseearthpublishers.com and you can hear the song there.
The song I was longing and longing to sing for Her, did not get sung, hopefully, the chance to do so will come up. I did bravely try, and have only that consolation.
Link attended a talk by Muhammed Yunus, the Nobel laureate, of Grameen bank fame that took place at his Alma Mater, the Amrita Vishwa Vidya Peetham. If you don’t know anything about the Grameen bank, this site will give you a very short and painless history:
http://www.grameen-info.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=114
Yunus discussed creating business and economic venture to serve society, rather than get rich off of people. He has several new businesses started to assist the poor in alleviating their material miseries. One of them was getting beggars to start businesses, a plan, which when initially floated had over 100,000 participants right off.
It always burns me when people say that people who are begging choose that lifestyle. I have so often heard the materially comfortable declare that all beggars are in rackets, with huge bank accounts. God forbid that we should allow our minds to become callous to the miserable conditions our immoral economic system has pushed people to.
Link video taped that talk, to watch it, click here:
There were so many things, I can’t describe it all now, not much time, but one really fun miracle, really, was something we have to call the Moscow Miracle, which shows how Amma’s infinite and gentle hands work a weave of love throughout the world.
Here’s the story, all true.
Over the years, we had built up a collection of foreign currencies from our trips around the planet. Altogether, it was finally worth about $3000 USD, which for us, is a huge sum. The night before we left Stockholm, we found in our waste area, a discarded collection of foreign coins. There were roubles, pesos, all kinds of currencies. Link was really glad, as a young person in the village outside the ashram had asked him for some foreign coins, and now he had a substantial gift to give. We thought the roubles would be good for the time in Moscow as well.
Once we got to Moscow, the plane was delayed for several more hours. Our impressions of Moscow were limited to the airport, which is quite large, and like a shopping mall. There were some things that were really good, like a video that showed how to paint a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and other things that were plain wrong, selling alcohol and cigarettes, and women blatantly and grossly portrayed as sex objects. Among the good things were children’s toys and souvenirs made in Russian art styles, very detailed and beautiful portraying ethical qualities in the bhavas of the artisan objects. The contrast between these forms of genuine culture and art, and the sloven mall aspect was strong. It made one want to weep for the culture of the people of Russia that is getting lost in the socially destructive smut of globalized markets.
Through the airport windows, we could see the outside environment, which was dark and snowing almost continuously. The large windows and airport lighting afforded a fantastic view of the landscape of snow storm and black night. We could see the ploughs working non-stop to keep the runways clean, and trucks that hosed hot water onto the aircraft wings to melt the ice on them. And the people, accustomed to their long dark, snowy winters, with their long coats. We ended up sleeping next to the windows as well, there were heaters there. Its always good to travel with a mat, at least you can stretch out flat somewhere.
At one point, we went to get some hot tea, and took our our home brought provisions to eat with it. At this point, the manager came out, a short woman with short hair, dressed in a suit and tie. She told us we could not eat our own food there. At least that is what I clearly understood. We put our food away immediately, and trying to make bonds of friendliness, I explained that Link was my son through hand gestures – rocking the baby.
Due to the delay we were given a voucher for a meal at the airport restaurant. It was several hours later, and the manager also came there. I wondered mildly if we were being watched to see that we did not try to eat our own food again. We picked through the menu, and ended up ordering cakes which brought our bill to over 90 roubles above the voucher amount. The cakes were very small, so, I must assume that a rouble is not worth that much. Link pulled out our foreign cash collection to pay for the extra amount. Now, it must be noted here, that I had decided inwardly that I would take all the cash and banking papers in my on-board, and ensure that they reached Amritapuri safely. It was an `I will’ statement to myself.
Anyhow, after pulling out all the roubles from our collection, we were 2 roubles short, which the check-out lady forgave us, and we got up and headed to the que boarding slowly at the gate.
It wasn’t until we got to Delhi, when Link went to look at the cameras, ( How I lost our camera, all my baby photos of the children, my journal, etc, is another story, no point to go into here.) that we realized we had left the entire envelope with all our cash, on the chair in the restaurant in Moscow. We were really surprised at our idiocy, both of us claiming the fault. But there it was. Gone. We did have the receipt from the restaurant, which was in Russian. Russia does not teach English to the people.
We got back to the ashram, and perhaps the second night, we went out for coconuts at Lalita’s, right outside the ashram. They loved Anni very much, and naturally, we love them. While there, I saw a really bright looking little boy, and asked him where he was from, he was probably about 11 years old. He said, “Nyet, no English, Russian, I only speak Russian.” At this point, Link was out behind Lalita’s playing with the dogs, and I began calling him. The boy and his father got up to leave, with me, babbling in English that we needed their help to talk to the people in Russia. They were leaving, when Link came out from his rumbles with the dogs, adding his voice to mine, and I wrote a note for them to give to someone in their group who speaks English.
So, this was how we got in touch with Marianna and Ludmilla, her Mother. The next night, we arranged to meet Marianna, near the fig family tree in front of the temple. She was with a group of very serious looking people. I explained the situation, and her prognosis after discussing it with the group was grim. “It is very unlikely that you will get it back.” Apparently there is a lot of corruption in Russia, and the people do not have much faith that anyone working for the Govt. is going to be of help to them.
It must be kept in mind, that both Link and I assumed the money was completely lost, but, I felt I should make some attempt to find it, as that is the duty one has to lost things.
Our second meeting with Marianna was on the last day of their trip. We arranged to meet the next day, which was just hours away from her departure. How this group of Russians came to Amritapuri was another amazing story. Six of this group had tried to get to Finland to see Amma there. The car they were in met with an accident, the wheels of the vehicle were destroyed, and they were unable to see Amma. Heart sick, they turned around, and organized an entire group of Russians, 25, to come to the ashram for 4 days to see Amma.
I met Marianna around tea time, and she tried to call the number on the receipt. As the connection was not working well, she thought it would be good to look up more information on internet. Link showed up fortuitously, and set the keyboard to Russian type for her, and she got all the numbers she needed. The site seemed well done, there was a `lost and found’ number, etc.
To make a long story short, she called the number, and spoke with the Manager of the Restaurant, who remembered us, and asked where were were from. Marianna said, the USA, and the manager said, its not them, this was an Indian woman and her son. So, that was cleared up, and the manager said she had the money and would hold it for us to pick up upon our return through Moscow.
Then, the fun part started.
Marianna was so amazed to meet a Russian official who was honest, and helpful, that she wept with joy. She said that this incident ended her lifelong disillusionment with the Russian system, and restored her faith that the Russian people were not completely lost.
We began talking, and it ends up that her younger brother had suddenly passed on, in 2007, in March, age 20. Her Mother, Ludmilla and I have a very similar heart. Its a terrible scorching and carving, only those who go through it can really understand. It’s sickening to hear people talk of Karma after that, it makes you realize how ignorant we all are about Karma. So many people spout about karma, I even heard a sannyasi saying, “You lose your child, its because you are a bad person, you have bad karma.” Such statements only show deep ignorance. I just mention this here, so that those who think like this will at least hold their tongues until a larger awareness dawns. We live in an ocean of loving reciprocity and sacrifice. Karma is out of Love. That’s all I want to say about it, here, now.
Amazingly, Ludmilla is a biologist of great renown, who is studying the communication within the cell and between the cells. I think I mentioned before that I had a dream where I was with Anni, and I asked her, “So what are You now?” and Anni said, “I am that which communicates within the cell and between the cells.”
As they only had a few hours, I took them to meet Sudheer – Amma’s baby brother, who was busy and going out, but still made arrangements for them to have cakes. We tried to see Damayanti Amma, but, she had already gone in and was resting. The chance to meet Sudheer touched their hearts greatly. It turned their experience of the ashram and Amma into friends and family.
After this, I took them out to the jetty to show them the plants, and Sugunanandan’s shrine place, and Ludmilla said she had had a dream of walking in the gardens at Amritapuri, and this was it.
Then, I took them on the unofficial tour of the ashram, which should be part of the official tour. I took them to Amma’s birthplace, which is still in woefully neglected condition, despite Amma saying again and again that that entire house should be made into a meditation hall.
From there we went to the inner Kalari room, and showed them the statue that Amma found when the temple was being made, and told them about how the ancestral shrine came to be there, how Amma refused to sit down during Krishna bhava until a `seat’ had been made for Her Grandfather, the Compassionate Yogishwaran, which is how that little shrine came into being. Then showed them the garden behind Amma’s room, and the lily that Anni had brought there, the mosiacs Anni had made, and the darshan hut, and all manner of little things, that make our ashram so unique and beautiful and homey.
Then we went to our room, as I wanted to give a copy of our works, so that they may spread in Russia. We also explained about the Umbrella project, the video of which is now up for those of you who would like to participate:
We stayed up with them talking and discussing joyously till 3 AM, their departure was at 4:30. We sent some of Amma’s hair and padam sands with them, to St. Petersburg. Both of these things were secret and unexpressed desires in Ludmilla’s heart.
And to top it off, when we returned to Moscow, we went to the restaurant, the manager came out, it was the same one! And she promptly returned the envelope, which she requested us to examine to see if everything was there. Of course it was! We happened to have a Russian language brochure about Amma, and were able to give that to her, along with some Kerala handcrafts.
So that was our Moscow Miracle!
Such is the grace of God, who turns our mistakes into blessings, and uses every moment to help us to become more aware of the one thing that really matters. To live our lives in Love and lovingness with one another, is real worship of God.
This morning in our Gita reading, we read:
“The outpouring of heart felt love is the only `sacrifice’ the Lord desires from His Creation.”
Ch.9:26 Paramahansa Yogananda’s Bhagavad Gita, Self Realization Fellowship.
Joy! Loving you,
Aunty Kamala, Anni and Link