AV Report #8--3rd Day (minus Peace Parade report which is Report #1)

[Guest guest]

Namah Shivaya.

 

The third day was devoted to Youth. A few of us headed out about noon in

order to get to the program in time for the parade. With some adjustments on

both sides, by now our hotel hosts were providing a wonderful buffet for

breakfast and lunch, with mostly food typical to the area plus toast. It was

simple but good. For lunch I would put rice, dal and raita (yogurt) in my

plastic covered dish and eat on ferry. In this way I didn¹t have to compete

with the thousands eating at the Indian kitchen and could enjoy similar

food. And eating on the ferry was so peaceful!

 

By now we were all using the rickshaw and taxi system. The hotel would call

one for us and it would be waiting at the landing. This morning a group of

Italians piled into a taxi with a nice hatch back space for luggage, and

since there was no luggage, Kavya from NYC and I scrunched into the luggage

space. Soon we started singing a few simple bhajans and the Italians made us

keep singing and gave us the ride for no fare in return, begging us to do it

again tomorrow.

 

See report #1 for Peace Parade story.

 

Amma had stopped giving darshan early Thursday morning because the President

had arrived. I heard one story about a musician from Germany who had hauled

a very large instrument and was all set to play in the wee hours of Friday

morning when the program abruptly ended. She was very upset. Don¹t know if

she ever got to play. I offer this as an example of the way we were all

being stretched and challenged.

 

Security in the stadium was very strict due to the president¹s appearance.

We were not allowed to take in any bags. At one point during the speeches,

there were armed guards standing on each side of Amma and the row of

speakers. It was an odd sight.

 

I found the president¹s message to be refreshingly interactive and down to

earth. He even used some call-response with us. And one sentence of Sri. B.

V. Jagadeesh, founder of Exodus Communications leapt out at me: ³A leader is

a lonely thinker.²

 

I believe it was in Amma¹s satsang on this evening that she had us all hold

hands and chant ³Om Namah Shivaya.² Can anyone else contribute any more

detail about this? I remember that She interrupted and told everyone to join

in. It felt like She was adding another layer to the subtle group energy

structure She seemed to be constructing.

 

It was in Her speech this evening that She urged Her own country members to

work harder, looking to the Westerners as an example. And She urged the

Westerners to take a look at their material habits and the needs of the

impoverished. She said at one point: The biggest problem facing the world is

poverty. She also urged Keralans to start doing a little gardening, pointing

out that most of Kerala¹s food is imported.

 

At the Ashram a couple of days before we left for Kochi, I had an

opportunity to contribute to editing and helping finish a report on a

project started by some USA youth to be given to the President. During the

summer programs, various youth were interviewed on their views about

education. These interviews were analyzed and included in the report. The

report was offered as a seed to inspire more such reports from youth around

the world.

 

I noticed that this experience led to an interesting shift in my behavior

and perceptions. It turned out that one of the key youths who inspired this

project was staying with in our group at the Kamyakam. In a casual

conversation with him and his mother, I learned that he had inspired the

paper I¹d worked on a week before. A day or so later, I found myself asking

this young person to help someone with their luggage. How can I explain what

had happened inside myself? There had been a shift in my attitude toward

this young person. I saw him as empowered. I felt empowered. It was as if

Amma had orchestrated a subtle but very empowering connection between us. I

describe this as best I can because it implies something about what was

going on inside, underneath, and behind the more obvious and dramatic

aspects of AV50.

 

Over and over in this saga, Amma kept reminding me why I call Her ³Amma,

Queen of Every Detail² .

 

After the bhajans on Friday evening, I headed out of the stadium, vowing to

get back to the ferry landing this evening by taxi or rickshaw so as to not

have to wait so late for the bus. I was headed for the western toilets

behind Western Canteen. It was dark. Things were crudely constructed. There

were people sleeping on the ground all around the front and side of the

canteen. I have to admit my attitude was not very kind. I was definitely not

seeing them as Amma sees them, though I¹ve been praying to Her to learn to

do that. Perhaps that led to what happened next, by Her grace.

Ah..hemmm....Carrying my burdensome attitude and stepping as best I could

around the resting bodies of Amma¹s darling children, I went around behind

the Western Canteen, past the Western Gift Shop and the medical aid center

toward the area where the pots were washed. I¹d used that route several

times since it was easier to get to the toilets that way rather than pushing

through the crowds lined up for food after bhajans in the front. So I¹m

walking along thinking I know where I¹m going when, in a flash, my left leg

has dropped down into the pool of water (?) behind the toilets!!!!! A little

cry of surprise flew out of me, and the potwashers heard me and rushed to

help. Almost as quickly as I fell half way in (by Amma¹s grace), I pulled

myself all the way out (by Amma¹s grace). Almost as shocking as the fall

itself is the fact that, truly by Amma¹s grace, I did not break a bone; I

did not even get my white handmade seersucker skirt wet or soiled; I lost my

glasses but had a pair to replace them; and a few rather impressive

scratches were quickly cleaned off with antiseptic at the medical center

just around the corner. The scab on my knee remained for several weeks, a

special reminder of the unique ways Amma finds to answer our prayers. Jai

Kali Ma!!!!

 

And yes, that night, a young mother and her 2 daughters took me in hand and

introduced me to the wonders of hailing down a rickshaw; the ferry was

waiting for us; and I got to bed before 2, smarting left leg and all.

 

Humbly Offered at Amma¹s Precious Lotus Feet.

Aum Amriteshvaryai Namah