San Ramon and MI

[Guest guest]

I had a good time in San Ramon and MI. Unfortunately, I did not

personally meet anyone from this list that I had not already met.

 

The Ritz-Carlton in MI had a big hall, and most of the time was

nice. But one evening there was a wedding, and we had to give up

the dining hall to them, and what with kids, shoes, and crowds, it

got a bit congested.

 

In San Ramon, one person asked, "Who am I? Where did I come from?

Where am I going? Why am I here?"

 

Amma said, "You are nobody -- NO BODY. You are the changeless

Atman, the Self. You came out of nothingness. And you are going

nowhere, you are still. The first twenty years of a man's life, his

parents ask him, 'Where are you going?' The next forty years, it is

his wife who asks him, 'And where are you off to?' And after his

death, the mourners ask, 'Where did he go?'

"Your purpose in coming here is to ask these questions. And to do

some good to others until the question of your purpose goes away."

The man smiled gratefully at the answers.

 

Amma mentioned at one point in a talk that love is not the same

thing as passion. I asked Amma about it afterwards.

"Since the gopi's romantic love for Krishna is considered in the

Bhagavatam to be the highest form of love, why do you say that love

is separate from passion? Isn't passion then a part of love?"

 

Amma said that passion was light a flash of lightning, and love was

like the sun. Passion may illuminate, but in a broken fashion, and

one cannot live just in these flashes. She said that when Krishna

once asked the Gopis to go back to their families and duties, they

replied that all their Karmas, or deeds, were directed towards

attaining Krishna. Now that they had done so, what duties are left

for them back with their families? Krishna had nothing to say to

that.

 

There is also an update on amma.org.

 

Nandu