Guest guest Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 Avram said: <<I am wondering why you put it this way. Are there stages of the technique, such that this is the first of many, or just what is meant by that? I also wonder how a practice which is not so complex would take 2.5 days to learn. As this is such a departure from anything She has done before, I feel it is crucial to get the training. Up till this point, it has been simple mantra practice, bhajans, and simple meditation (without any real attention or detail). Never has there been such a concerted effort. What is even more disconcerting is that there are already "refresher" trainings! The earliest one could have taken the training was Sept. 2003, in India. I believe She released this technique then, but may be wrong. How then, just a few months later, would there be a need for a review of a technique that is supposedly not complicated??? Avram>> I would say to let go of your worries - there's nothing to worry about. You'll understand when you take the training. Everything takes practice, just like riding a bike - that's why it's nice to have the refresher courses. Blessings, Achintya ______________________ ______________________ Message: 7 Tue, 13 Jan 2004 19:01:56 -0800 (PST) Mike Brooker <patria1818 Amma in Madurai (Love and compassion can work wonders) http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/14/stories/2004011411840300.htm `Love and compassion can work wonders' By Our Staff Reporter MADURAI, JAN. 13 . Hatred is the main cause for wars and terrorism, Mata Amritananda Mayi said today. Addressing devotees at the Mata Amritananda Mayi Mutt here, she said harbouring hatred against someone was like swallowing poison and expecting the enemy to die. One had to learn to forgive others, for it was not a weakness, and the one who forgave derived the most benefit thereof, she said. One who could not control his or her anger could be considered emotionally handicapped. Just as the physically challenged was confined to a wheelchair, the person with the handicap of anger was confined by the inner negativity and would not be able to respond to situations. Hence, such persons should be approached with love and compassion, she said. The love and compassion could work wonders, as it might bring those emotionally handicapped to normalcy, said Mata Amritnanda Mayi. "The body is like a rented house, and no one has the right to claim any authority over it. Once the time comes, he or she has to vacate the place. Hence, one should be able to spend his or her time in this world joyfully," she said. One had to learn the art of listening, as good listeners were better equipped to respond to situations, thus creating more benefit for themselves and others, she said. Later, she offered darshan to the devotees. Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus ______________________ ______________________ Message: 8 Tue, 13 Jan 2004 19:10:14 -0800 (PST) Anumati <anumati_devi IAM and sadhana advice Namah Shivaya, Thank you all for the information that has been coming in regarding IAM. It is very helpful and very kind of you to share your very personal experiences. Although I really would love to learn it, I've decided to wait until my discipline has matured. In lieu of the IAM technique, can anyone please chime in on my current method of daily observance: First I chant my own mantra, then I say the 108 names of Devi followed by arati and a brief meditation. Any feedback or suggestions would be very appreciated by this inexperienced Amma devotee. Namah Shivaya, Anumati "A real yogi is one who can maintain a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis." - Mata Amritanandamayi Devi Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes ______________________ ______________________ Message: 9 Tue, 13 Jan 2004 20:59:50 -0800 (PST) "E. Lamb" <jyotsna2 Tour Dates Summer 2004 Hi all, This came out on the local satsang's official e-mail. Time to start planning! Keval will appreciate the last few lines, especially. JyotsnaAMMAS US Tour 2004 Abbreviations used: PP - Public program DB - Devi Bhava Jun 3: Seattle PP Jun 4 - 6: Seattle Retreat and 6th DB Jun 7: Travel Jun 8 - 20: San Ramon Retreat 18 - 20. DB"S Jun 12 and 20. Jun 21: Travel Jun 22 - 23: PP in LA Jun 24- 26: Retreat in LA 26: DB Jun 27: Travel Jun 28-29: Santa Fe PP Jun 30 - Jul 2: S Fe (Albuquerque) Retreat DB Jul 2 Jul 3: Travel July 4, 5th: Dallas PP Jul 6: Travel Jul 7,8: Iowa PP Jul 9: Travel Jul 10, 11: Chicago PP Jul 12 Travel Jul 13, 14, 15: Wash. DC PP's Jul 16: Travel Jul 17, 18, 19: New York PP's Jul 20: Travel Jul 21: Boston Jul 22 - 24: RI Retreat Jul 25: Travel Jul 26 evening, 27 and 28: Toronto PP's. NOTE: Toronto is only 90% confirmed. Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus ______________________ ______________________ Message: 10 Tue, 13 Jan 2004 21:34:42 -0800 (PST) Mike Brooker <patria1818 Re: Tour Dates Summer 2004 > > This came out on the local satsang's official > e-mail. Time to start planning! Keval will > appreciate the last few lines, especially. > > JyotsnaAMMAS US Tour 2004 > [snip] >> Jul 26 evening, 27 and 28: Toronto PP's. > NOTE: Toronto is only 90% confirmed. > > Will find out more this weekend during the IAM meditation retreat. It's still in the "hot rumor" stage, IMHO, as I find it hard to believe that something on the scale of Amma's visit can be made to happen with only 6 months of lead time. Zeige mir das Geld. (Show me the money.. been having another IM chat auf Deutsch!) But obtaining a suitable hotel isn't the main stumbling block. Hotels in the Toronto area are desperate for business, as the local economy is still suffering from SARS, West Nile, Mad Cow, and a rising CDN$ (now up to 78 cents in real money) keeping U.S tourists away. Not to mention Americans are canceling trips to Canada because they're still P.O.'ed that we did not stand "ready aye ready" with Dubya on the Iraq war. Keval Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes./signingbonus ______________________ ______________________ Message: 11 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 10:23:44 -0000 "saramj33" <saramj With love from Kirsten, in Amritapuri Tue, 13 Jan 2004 , received from Kirsten Om Namah Sivaya! I arrived safely and am completely overrjoyed being here at Amritapuri, eagerly awaiting Amma's return. Her presence is palpable, and the atmosphere is very conducive to remembrance of God. I feel very blessed to be here, and completely undeserving of Her grace. She is sooo incredibly merciful!!! I wish I could share all the heart-opening experiences She has been showering upon me since my arrival, but can't seem to put them into words just yet. I am completely overrwhelmed with gratitude and joy right now. Jai Ma!! I will be in touch again soon! With love in Amma, Kirsten ______________________ ______________________ Message: 12 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:29:03 -0000 "Damu Menon" <damu IAM - Florida The satsang groups in Florida are working towards hosting an IAM course in the Gainesville area for interested individuals. The course will begin on a Friday evening and end on Sunday by 5:00 PM. If you or anyone you know is interested and feel that you can commit to a weekend, please e-mail me at dkmenon as soon as possible.This is a very exciting opportunity for individuals interested in meditation in the Southeast and more information will be released as soon as plans are made. Damu ______________________ ______________________ Message: 13 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 09:34:55 -0800 (PST) Omenka Supriti Nnadi <oomenka A Christmas Story Meant to send this before Christmas, so this is late, I like this story because I have (had) a spider phobia and it helps me to see the spider as not scary... On Christmas Eve, a long time ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year...Christmas day, the day on which the little Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner on the ceiling. They had fled to the farthest corner of the attic. The Christmas tree was beautifully decorated. The poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the little Christ child's visit. Then the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could wait until everyone went to bed and then get a closer look. When the house was dark and silent, the spiders crept out of their hiding place. When they neared the Christmas tree, they were delighted with the beauty of it. The spiders crept all over the tree, up and down, over the branches and twigs and saw every one of the pretty things. The spiders loved the Christmas tree. All night long they danced in the branches, leaving them covered with spider webs. In the morning, when the little Christ child came to bless the house, he was dismayed! He loved the little spiders for they were God's creatures, but he knew the mother who had worked so hard to make everything perfect, would not be pleased when she saw what the spiders had done. With love in his heart and a smile on his lips, the little Christ child reached out and gently touched the spider webs. The spider webs started to sparkle and shine! They had all turned into sparkling, shimmering silver and gold. According to legend, ever since this happened, people have hung tinsel on their Christmas trees. It has also become a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the Christmas tree. Om Namashivaya - In Amma's service, Supriti Omenka Nnadi Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes ______________________ ______________________ Message: 14 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 09:50:21 -0800 (PST) Omenka Supriti Nnadi <oomenka Travelogue from India I wrote this recently for a newsletter that is published where I work, I thought you all might enjoy reading this. There is no mention of Amma because of the audience I wrote for. Picture a lush stand of coconut trees and sand underfoot. Feel the warm breeze and humid, salty air. Add hot sun and friendly people and spicy wonderful food served up with plenty of laughter and conversation and you will be imagining the city of Cochin in Kerala, a southern state in India where I was blessed to spend my vacation recently. How did I end up in this paradise? I met a computer specialist from India here in Ann Arbor when he was visiting on a work visa and we became friends and shared food and rides together. When he went home to get married, I promised I would come and visit his family and "be treated like a queen." Anyway after two years of planning, plotting, working 3 jobs, saving money I finally flew off to India (5 different airplanes) on a 24 hour trip in September that was worth every minute of the journey to get there. I arrived in Cochin, an ancient seaport city in the Indian state of Kerala at 245a.m.! September 15 and my friend with his wife and baby of 5 months were waiting to whisk me off to their flat. I slept for almost a day and then was up and about. I was on the alert for snakes and spiders, and luckily I didn't encounter any large snakes (I did see one in the backwaters) and only a few small spiders. The cockroaches were pretty awesome though - about one inch long, slow, wide and fat. I resisted the urge to step on them - didn't even want to hear that much noise. Our flat overlooked a cow pasture (with cows) full of coconut and mango trees and bordered by a backwater stream of saltwater that went up and down with the tides from the ocean. I awoke my first morning to the screeching of crows and peeps and shrills and crooning by all kinds of birds. They actually have wild green parrots flying free! Right away I began sweating and pretty much stayed wet the whole time I was in Kerala, and it is so warm that it doesn't matter if one is wet because nothing ever gets really dry anyway. I did my own laundry (I chose to) and it took an average of 2 days to dry anything (no dryers, just cloths lines) and lots of times I would wear stuff wet the first 10 days because I purposely took only a few clothes so I could buy some clothes there. Buying clothes was a great adventure. My hostess took me to a fabric shop, three floors of all kinds of fabric from silk to cotton to wool. Luckily for me, she loved shopping and we had a great time having the clerks pull out bolts of colorful fabric for us to look at. I wanted flamboyant and she wanted elegant so we met somewhere in the middle and picked out fabric for 4 churidars - the traditional dresses (with Punjabi pants) worn by women. Then I had to go to the tailoring shop to have my measurements taken and pick the styles for the necklines of the dresses. Being measured was an experience because the shop was only 10 feet across and there were 4 men sewing and all these piles of fabrics in various stages of becoming dresses. So I squeezed my giant body in there and got measured from head to toe and everywhere in between. Many of the people in Cochin are very tiny people, like up to my elbow and very small boned and dainty. I felt very large in that tailor shop. Like a giant. I laughed a lot while I was getting measured. I wonder what those poor men thought who had to fabricate my dresses... Four days later I had wonderful dresses and felt very comfortable in them. I also purchased some really comfy sandals to go with my new dresses. I also got to go to the "supermarket" and that was fun. Trying to find stuff that I recognized wasn't easy since I could not read the labels which were mostly written in Hindi or Malayalam. There was an amazing amount of merchandise from China all over the place. I was told that some merchants put phony Made In China labels on items so that people will think they are getting imports. I don't remember seeing anything that said made in USA. People try to feed guests all the time and so each place I visited I had tea or food or both. Most kitchen's are equipped with a coconut shredder - it is a gadget that gets attached to a counter top that has a rounded flat blade of metal 6 inches high with teeth that lays flat and faces the wall. Then the half coconuts are scraped over the blade to make grated coconut. Breakfast is usually a dish called putta - this is finely grated fresh coconut (ummmmm) and rice flower mixed with a little bit of water and then put into a stainless steel tube about an inch and a half across and 8 inches long that is built to fit on top of a pressure cooker fitting. Water is put in the pressure cooker to boil, the lid is closed and then steam rises up into the tube and steams the rice flour and coconut into a tube shape which is served in 2 inches long slices. They tried to make me eat the whole tube, but it was way too much. The putta is served with bananas. This is the really fun part, smooshing the banana into the putta - it takes about 5 minutes of squishing (with the right hand only) the banana into the steaming coconut rice flour mixture so that the banana is completely mixed, licking of the hand and fingers during the mooshing is not bad manners (yay). Some people sprinkle sugar over this putta, but I didn't - and then pop it in the mouth - a wonderful breakfast treat especially when served with tea. How I miss my putta. Tea is served around 4pm every day, and most meals except breakfast include rice, lentils, vegetables and tea. Tea was safe because the water is always boiled to make it. I didn't get sick at all! That was blessing. One of the things that impressed me the most during my stay is that many of the children (infants up to teenagers) I met were happy. I didn't meet any sullen teenagers or delinquents, although I am sure they were around, I just didn't meet any. I was able to observe extensively the care of the 5 month-old son of the family I was staying with. He was treated so nicely and gently and sweetly. There are many rituals involved in the bathing, feeding and sleeping that give the infant a secure feeling. This baby (named Abhinav) had a regular schedule every day and lots of laughing and talking with anyone who visited. Regular feeding times, regular sleep times and lots of social interactions happened every day. After four weeks of being a guest, I was ready to come home in a way, and also sad to leave my friends. I also miss the food now that I am home again. I brought home lovely memories, lots of fabric and dresses and a firm desire to visit again next year. Om Namashivaya - In Amma's service, Supriti Omenka Nnadi Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes ______________________ ______________________ Message: 15 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 10:28:27 -0800 (PST) Omenka Supriti Nnadi <oomenka Greetings and Thanks Thank you all again for your support and your responses about IAM training and my fears. I had a wonderful experience at the training, I am able to "meditate" now every day and your prayers were felt and needed. I realized after I shared my drama trauma with this group that it is very helpful to be able to talk about things that we keep secret. In the song we sing it says "when the truth is revealed, all the sorow will be healed" - I believe this - even though it is so hard to share those unique things that make each of us special, it is in the end the best way. And Amma knows it all anyway already... Happy New Year to all May Amma hold us all in her gentle loving arms this year and guide us with Her Universal Love and grace. Regarding knowing when one is benig guided, or not - I know Amma is guiding me when things happen and I am still happy and peaceful, changed for the good, and/or enlightened... Om Namashivaya - In Amma's service, Supriti Omenka Nnadi Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes ______________________ ______________________ Message: 16 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 18:43:41 -0000 "lbrachlin" <lbrachlin Re: Digest Number 1060 Ammachi, sprose1@a... wrote: > In a message dated 1/13/04 2:21:25 AM Pacific Standard Time, > Ammachi writes: > Avram, I took the training in September in Amritapuri. Let me try to answer some of your questions. > > The technique taught so far > > I am wondering why you put it this way. Are there stages of the technique, > such that this is the first of many, or just what is meant by that? I'm not sure about this, but I think the brahmachari who taught my class said something about more phases coming out later...I'm not really too sure about this, though. I also > wonder how a practice which is not so complex would take 2.5 days to learn. This first night consists of an orientation and some other details...no teaching. When I took it in Amritapuri, much of the course was broken up by satsang with Amma in the temple, darshan, lunch break, etc., so it wasn't a full 2 days. Then there was plenty, I mean plenty of time spent on Q & A. All questions were written down and the brahmachari answered them. Since there are many steps to the IAM technique, there was much repetition...seems Amma and the instructors really want us to get it, so we do it many times over. But it is relatively simple and flowing once you learn and memorize it. I've also heard that the training here in the U.S. is a full day on Saturday and Sunday is not a full day with Q & A at that time. Don't know for sure. As > this is such a departure from anything She has done before, I feel it is crucial > to get the training. Up till this point, it has been simple mantra practice, > bhajans, and simple meditation (without any real attention or detail). Never > has there been such a concerted effort. What is even more disconcerting is > that there are already "refresher" trainings! The earliest one could have taken > the training was Sept. 2003, in India. I believe She released this technique > then, but may be wrong. I believe it was given prior to this. I'm pretty sure there were some trainings in India and perhaps Europe prior to this. I believe it really went public in September during the Amritavarshan celebration. How then, just a few months later, would there be a > need for a review of a technique that is supposedly not complicated??? Avram You'd be surprised how quickly people forget things! Also, perhaps it really helps to reinforce one's psyche in knowing one is doing it all correctly. Amma is very forgiving of her childrens' attention spans. Lisa ______________________ ______________________ Message: 17 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:49:50 -0600 Rick Archer <rick IAM - Fairfield Swami Dayamrita will teach the IAM course in Fairfield, Iowa the weekend of January 23-25. If you¹re interested, send your name and email to info ______________________ ______________________ Message: 18 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 17:42:37 -0500 kalipadma Re: A Christmas Story Interesting... I'm not a Christian, but I'm only familiar with traditions where Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas) visits people's homes at Christmas. And I think Italy has Befana, a Christmas witch. What ethnicity has stories about the Christ Child visiting people's homes? -- Len/ Kalipadma On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 09:34:55 -0800 (PST) Omenka Supriti Nnadi <oomenka writes: > Meant to send this before Christmas, so this is late, I like this > story because I have (had) a spider phobia and it helps me to see > the spider as not scary... > > > On Christmas Eve, a long time ago, a gentle mother was busily > cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the > year...Christmas day, the day on which the little Christ child came > to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders > had been banished from their cozy corner on the ceiling. They had > fled to the farthest corner of the attic. > > > > The Christmas tree was beautifully decorated. The poor spiders were > frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the > little Christ child's visit. Then the oldest and wisest spider > suggested that perhaps they could wait until everyone went to bed > and then get a closer look. > > > > When the house was dark and silent, the spiders crept out of their > hiding place. When they neared the Christmas tree, they were > delighted with the beauty of it. The spiders crept all over the > tree, up and down, over the branches and twigs and saw every one of > the pretty things. > > > > The spiders loved the Christmas tree. All night long they danced in > the branches, leaving them covered with spider webs. In the > morning, when the little Christ child came to bless the house, he > was dismayed! He loved the little spiders for they were God's > creatures, but he knew the mother who had worked so hard to make > everything perfect, would not be pleased when she saw what the > spiders had done. > > > > With love in his heart and a smile on his lips, the little Christ > child reached out and gently touched the spider webs. The spider > webs started to sparkle and shine! They had all turned into > sparkling, shimmering silver and gold. > > > According to legend, ever since this happened, people have hung > tinsel on their Christmas trees. It has also become a custom to > include a spider among the decorations on the Christmas tree. > > > Om Namashivaya - In Amma's service, > > Supriti Omenka Nnadi > > > > Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes > > > > > Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha! > > ------------------------ Sponsor > > Links > > > Ammachi/ > > > Ammachi > > Your > > > > ______________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! ______________________ ______________________ Message: 19 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 23:38:41 -0000 "kasi_visvanath" <kasi_visvanath Re: Ramakrishna > I wanted to comment on this because over the Xmas holiday a man I > know from Calcutta told me that in the Bengali version (original) of > the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the Master says something to the > effect that he will be born northwest of India (I thought he had said > in 200 years, but maybe it was 100) Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramakrsnaya Namo Namah! i trust that Divine Mother is blessing one and all on this group! in reference to the being reborn in the northwest of India, that was commented upon in the longer English version of the Gospel in the forward i think....He said that he could be "found" as far as i remember, in the northwest of India in about a hundred years, travelling with a group of spiritual musicians...(like the Bauls of Bengal probably), and that he would be found to be puffing upon his hubble bubble....(a hookah)... At another point , he had stated that he wanted to be reborn in the next life as a WOMAN, such that he could REALLY LOVE Sri KRSNA.... in these cases, Amma is indeed fitting the requirements, except for the Hubble bubble...She is often found travelling thru North west India with her band of musicians, singing and giving Darshan.... She is a woman (just as he wished to be in the next life)... Her advice is often identical to that which both Bhagavan and His wife, Sri Sarada Devi used to give...very simple, practical, based on real life, rather than vast quotations of scriptures written by other people....Both also loved to sing and could move audiences to tears with their devotional singing... Sri Sarada Devi saw her husband to be an incarnation of Mother Kali...Her Devotees saw HER to be an incarnation of the same Mother Kali....and we today see that our Amma is also an incarnation of the Beautiful Mother Kali....Who has promised from time immemorial to take a birth on this Earth plane whenever Dharma declines, and unrighteousness is in the ascendant...when the Demons, the Asuras, are running wild over the earth...it was happening then and is happening now too.. i believe that Sri Ramakrsna's mission was to prepare the way for the coming of our Divine Mother Kali into Her Own realm, for the reawakening of the Divine Feminine Energy...to prepare the WEST particularly for Her Advent....He told Naren early that he had many devotees in the West...cause he had seen them in samadhi...he travelled to their lands (probably in the future too)...and he saw MANY people in the west speaking languages he couldn't understand, but who were honouring His Picture...and were worshipping the Divine Thru His Grace...He then more or less sent Sw. Vivekanandaji to the West to prepare the way...Swamiji, Who was possessed entirely by the Divine Mother, Kali, Who had felt Her to come into his body from his Master's body, shortly before the Master entered into Mahasamadhi....and Swamiji said that ever since that day, he had NOT a MOMENT"S rest...Mother drove Her Child then just as She is driving many of Her children today, and due to Her tireless efforts, and Her Grace, Swamiji (Vivekanandaji) was blessed to be able to found his missions in the West...and the Mother began to work from behind the scenes preparing folks for Her eventual advent... then in 1920, along came Yoganandaji, who was ALSO a big devotee of the SAME Kalima Who was adored by Sri Ramakrsna, Sri Sarada Devi, and Sri Swami Vivekanandaji!! and in fact worshipped the very SAME Murti of Mother Kali, Who was to be found in the Dakshineswar Temple.... also, when Amma went to visit Dakshineswar, without being told, She followed the exact same path which Sri Sarada Devi used to use to come to see Her Husband...and when Amma had Darshan of the Dakshineswari Kali, She was so loving that image that She requested to have a sister image made of the exact same Kali, and it was sculpted for Her by the exact same family of sculptors which had been so honoured as to be able to sculpt the original Kali statue in the Dakshineswar Temple....that very same Kali statue is reigning supreme in Amritpuri, at Amma's Ashram Temple..... if you read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrsna, and then you read a few pages from Amma's "Awaken Children" series, you will find them to be SO similar that it's uncanny....in fact Amma's series of books appears to be a nice continuation of the same Lovely Sakta teachings which Sri Ramakrsna used to give so long ago... So whether Amma is or is not an incarnation of Sri Ramakrsna and Sri Sarada Devi, as seems to be implied by the Names which were earlier quoted by several folks, yet, THEY were considered to be Mother Kali's Avataras, and Amma too is considered by SO many to be an Avatara of Mother Kali.... As for Advaita, it has been said by many that i would trust, that Sri Ramakrsna has been whitewashed by his devotees into BECOMING an adovocate of Advaita...but in reality, just as Amma, He never preached Advaita to the masses...in fact he suggested, just as Amma does, that in the Kali Yuga, Advaita approaches, such as Jnana are too difficult for the average folks...that we simply do NOT live long enough to be able to do a significant Jnana Sadhana... What Bhagavan preached, and what Amma preaches, is that BHAKTI is the Sovereign solution...the perfect sadhana for MOST folks alive today, because it is the easiest, takes the least amount of time and effort...and besides, just like the jack fruit tree, the fruits are to be found even on the trunk near to the bottom of the tree....Devotion has its own rewards, almost immediately. However, Devotion was not popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...even up to today for many folks, because of the popularity of Science and REason, and the socalled Materialistic view of the Universe...so devotion didn't taste so good to those dry minded scientific types...and so the Ramakrsna swamis recast their Guru, Who was really a MAJOR advocate of BHAKTI rather than Jnana, into the "scientificadvaita" mold... Sri Ramakrsna had Himself been instructed by the Mother Kali to NOt remain in the Jnani states...to NOT remain in the in the Brahman ...to not remain in the undifferentiated consciousnes, which he was so fond of...instead She told him to come down to a lower level to a level where there is THOU and I...to a level where he could teach, and express his understandings and inspirations...if he had remained in the Brahman consciousness, he would have been USELESS for Mother's work...so he tried very hard to remain in that lower devotional state...which was so much more accessible to his devotees... the same occurred with our Amma, when She used to hide out in the sand holes...throwing stones at people and telling them to go away...eventually Divine Mother appeared to Amma, and told Her that She was not born to experience unalloyed bliss alone...that she should worship the Divine Mother in all Her forms...and not keep it all to Herself....the which Amma has been faithfully carrying out ever since the Mother gave Her that command. hope that this has been of some interest to you all.... In Amma's Divine Love, and in Her Service, as ever, your own self, visvanathan Om Amrtesvaryai Namah! ______________________ ______________________ Message: 20 Wed, 14 Jan 2004 17:55:23 -0600 Michele Worstell <michelew IAM Meditation Course in Dallas Hello! My name is Michele Worstell and I live in Austin, Texas. I am trying to reach someone connected to the Dallas IAM Meditation Course. I am making reservations to take the course and I want to know if there is still room and which airport is closest to the hotel? Also if there would be anyone available to pick me up at the airport and take me to the hotel? And then back to the airport on Sunday. I am looking forward to taking this course and thank everyone for sharing their experiences. Blessings Michele Worstell www.nilabindu.com - A site to behold indeed! For your all natural bodycare and spiritual jewelry needs. ______________________ ______________________ Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha! ------ Ammachi/ Ammachi Your ------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 << Anumati <anumati_devi IAM and sadhana advice Namah Shivaya, Thank you all for the information that has been coming in regarding IAM. It is very helpful and very kind of you to share your very personal experiences. Although I really would love to learn it, I've decided to wait until my discipline has matured. In lieu of the IAM technique, can anyone please chime in on my current method of daily observance: First I chant my own mantra, then I say the 108 names of Devi followed by arati and a brief meditation. Any feedback or suggestions would be very appreciated by this inexperienced Amma devotee. Namah Shivaya, Anumati>> Goodness, Anumati, you sound quite disciplined to me! That is a very fine practice. More disciplined than i was before I took this training. I have actually found that learning the IAM has profoundly increased my discipline with my spiritual practice - it has been easier to get up early than before, I have looked forward to it, and I feel more inspired. Blessings, Achintya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2004 Report Share Posted January 16, 2004 dear group, please lay down a few om lokas for Sandra Mordujovich, my dear friend, 34 yrs old who surprised us last night and springboarded from a dreamy sleep into the arms of Ma. Jai Ma "The body is like a rented house, and no one has the right to claim any authority over it. Once the time comes, he or she has to vacate the place. Hence, one should be able to spend his or her time in this world joyfully," she said. One had to learn the art of listening, as good listeners were better equipped to respond to situations, thus creating more benefit for themselves and others, she said. Later, she offered darshan to the devotees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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