Other tidbits from the retreat Q&A

[Guest guest]

Om Amriteswaryai Namaha!

 

OK, I'm going to do some major paraphrasing here, because I wasn't a good

student taking notes, but one of the questioners asked Amma about when we chant

the Lokah mantra (may all beings in all worlds be happy), what were the other

worlds we are blessing, who are the other beings, and do they struggle

spiritually in the same way we do? Amma sort of skirted around this one, saying

that to an ant, because of the difference in perpective, we live in a differant

world. But then She started joking about other worlds with people just like us,

saying that if we want to see them, just look in the mirror. I took this as a

hint that what we see in the mirror is not reality, but illusion, but of course

that's my perspective...

 

Another questioner said that it seemed that Amma used to have a little bit of a

hard time keeping Her consciousness on the earthly plane, but that She seems to

be doing much better at that now, and how and why did She make that effort? Amma

told us about how when She was growing up, She would go around to all the nearby

houses collecting scraps for Her family's cows. In some homes, She saw that

there was plenty to eat, while in others, large familys were starving. She said

in those days there was no birth control, so it was common for people to have

nine or so children. She saw how the elderly and disabled were mistreated and

abused, and all these sights caused Her to deeply inquire into the nature of

suffering (frankly, this reminds me very much of the Buddha's story). Out of Her

compassion and concern for these poor people, She began to embrace them, and

that's how everything started. So I think She was telling us that as Her

interaction with the suffering of the world has

increased, so has the need for Her to stay more present. She talked about

service and about how we should do service with total presence.

 

Another questioner was curious to know about who Amma was in Her past lives.

Swamiji immediately perked up, said something to Amma, and when Amma sort of

giggled, he said to us, without hesitation, "She was Krishna!" Everybody

laughed, especially Mother. She then went on to tell us (again, I'm

paraphrasing) that it doesn't matter who we were in the past, or who we will be

in the future, what matters is right now.

 

I hope maybe someone can elaborate on these, it was so much fun.

 

love,

 

Prajna

 

 

 

Discover

Stay in touch with email, IM, photo sharing & more. Check it out!