Real Story/Sharing with you

07-29-2001, 07:42 AM

Earlier in the month around mid July, we had an Ammachi retreat here where I
work. The group has come each year to the college for the last five years or
so. The devotees seems like a wonderful group. I usually try to stop by for
the food. Since I don't take part in the retreat and am not part of their
group, I pay six dollars for lunch and 10 dollars for dinner. The food is
vegetarian and cooked by the devotees and it is an all you can eat affair
which I like very much.

This year I had lunch with the group and ate so much that I thought there
was no need for dinner and went home. Around dinner time I thought to come
back. As it happened, the dinner time was at 8pm and I had come early. The
group was preparing to have the Puja in the hall. There was a big crowd. So
I took off my shoes and socks like everyone and put them on the rack outside
the hall and went in for the Puja.

I was then led by the devotees who were helping everyone to sit in a
particular spot in the hall. I saw that many people had come prepared and
had nice cushions to sit on. I sat on the wooden floor cross legged with
the group I had been assigned to. Each group had 4 people for the purpose of
the Puja. Two ladies in my group were from Quebec, Canada. They were not
fluent in English but spoke it well enough. One of the Canadian ladies from
Quebec must have been in her late 40s, the other in her 50s or 60s. They
were both psychologists or psychotherapists. The older Canadian lady was a
grief therapist and specialized in helping people overcome grief. She told
me that she had been coming to the retreats for 12 years. The younger
Canadian lady was a general therapist. It was her first time at a retreat. A
third lady seemed American, although she was dressed in an Indian dress. She
seemed like a long term devotee. There were people from many parts of the
world of all ages and many professional backgrounds.

I told my group that I did not know how to do the ritual Puja as this was my
first time. Everyone in my group was very kind and helpful. I simply
followed what they were doing. After 15 minutes, it became very
uncomfortable for me to sit cross legged. The floor was hard and my ankles
were hurting. The older Canadian lady from Quebec, the grief therapist,
suggested that I take her cushion for 15 minutes to get some relief. I
thanked her for her kindness but declined, saying to her, "This pain is in
my karma! I have to go through it" I was trying to be funny! The older
Canadian lady from Quebec said, "It is your choice."

And so it went for a while. I changed my sitting posture every 5 minutes due
to the discomfort. The older Canadian lady offered again to give me her
cushion for 15 minutes. The younger Canadian lady from Quebec now joined in
and also suggested I take the older lady's cushion for 15 minutes. I was
touched by their kindness but said that my discomfort would simply be
transferred to her and so again declined saying, "I have to bear this karma
myself!" So we chatted and exchanged some conversation. The Puja went on and
Devi mantras were chanted and everyone had a small container of water which
was charged with the energy of the mantras. Then Ammachi gave a talk which
was translated by one of her Indian devotees. It was the usual stuff that
religious and spiritual people say or are expected to say. The older
Canadian lady from Quebec was writing in her pad! Being unsure I asked, "Are
you taking notes?" She said, "Yes!" And she was! Soon the talk was over and
I thanked God and got up. My ankles were really hurting like crazy. My first
thought upon getting up from the floor was about my shoes. There were
hundreds of people there with shoes on the racks alongside mine and I did
not wish to go home bare feet. Also, I was not sure about dinner anymore as
I knew the huge line I would have to stand in to eat.
********************************
To be continued (Part II - Finding the shoes, getting to the dinner, and the
dinner conversation !)

P.S. I will be submitting this to the HarshaSatsangh Magazine. If you find
errors or mistakes in the writing or ways to improve the presentation,
please let me know. Thank you.