Guest guest Posted December 10, 2005 Report Share Posted December 10, 2005 here are > > some notes I took at the Michigan Question and > Answer session. > > > > > > Q. Amma, I, too, have four questions. > (Laughter.) When I heard this devotee begin to speak, I thought his first question was going to be "why is this night different from all other nights?"..or in Hebrew "mah nishtanah ha layla hazeh mikol ha laylot"? [ok for all you goyim... I'm referring to the Four Questions, asked by the youngest child present at the Passover seder!] I missed the first bit of the Q&A session, as I was in my room watching the Grey Cup (Canadian Football League championship game)..took the dinner plate served by Amma back up to my room to watch the end of the game..which btw was quite a thriller, won in overtime by the Edmonton Eskimos over the Montreal Alouettes..much better game than any Super Bowl I can remember..the Grey cup is a big thing in Canada..the Prime Minister did the opening coin toss, and the Governor General (the Queen's representative in Canada) presented the Cup to the winning team. Keval (who was never the youngest kid at my family's Passover seders!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 11, 2005 Report Share Posted December 11, 2005 > > Q. Amma, I, too, have four questions. > > (Laughter.) The key here is "I too..." because in San Ramon, a devotee pronounced very officially sounding and (lots of other adjectives come to mind, that are surely a reflection of my own state of mind) that "I am a sadhak and I am here to ask these four questions," in a sort of testing tone of voice. Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going from here? There was some collective intake of breath and Amma made a big show of writing some of them down, play-acting, it was very humourous. I thought perhaps there would be some huge revelation. It went something like this (I think Nandu wrote about it at the time as well...) Amma: You are no body. You are NO BODY (not the body)... You are the Atman. Everything is a manifestation of the one. You are neither coming nor going... you are always there. You are here to ask the question. Until the thought "I have come" disappears, do good to the world. All questions and doubts disappear when one realizes I am the Atman. Mind is our own creation, and it is not real.... One tree cannot be a forest, one drop of rain cannot be a river. Millions of thoughts streaming together form the Atman. The Atman is all pervasive, it is always there. Neither comes nor goes. When the fan stops working there is no problem with the electricity. it is just there is some problem with the machine. [Atman is like that.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 11, 2005 Report Share Posted December 11, 2005 Ammachi, Rachel Barrett Gallop <hipstorian@g...> wrote: > > > > Q. Amma, I, too, have four questions. > > > > (Laughter.) > > > The key here is "I too..." because in San Ramon, a devotee > pronounced very officially sounding and (lots of other adjectives > come to mind, that are surely a reflection of my own state of mind) > that "I am a sadhak and I am here to ask these four questions," in a > sort of testing tone of voice. > > Who am I? > Where did I come from? > Why am I here? > Where am I going from here? > His name is Raghu, and he is indeed a very sincere sadhak. And as he said, he was trying to speak for all sincere sadhaks to extract Amma's wisdom on these central questions of Vedanta. > There was some collective intake of breath and Amma made a big show > of writing some of them down, play-acting, it was very humourous. I > thought perhaps there would be some huge revelation. May I be forgiven for writing this as Raghu wanted to keep it private, but I could not resist sharing this with you all...... The next day, when he showed up for darshan, Swamiji took the paper out of his pocket and gave it to Raghu telling him that Amma wanted to give the piece of paper to him, in which she had written the 4 questions in malayalam. I had the good fortune of being shown the paper by Raghu. He intends to frame it, as per advice from senior devotees and disciples. Jai Ma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 11, 2005 Report Share Posted December 11, 2005 Namah Shivaya. Thanks you, Manoj. This post represents the real heart of this list. Jai Amma. premarupa > > May I be forgiven for writing this as Raghu wanted to keep it private, > but I could not resist sharing this with you all...... The next day, > when he showed up for darshan, Swamiji took the paper out of his > pocket and gave it to Raghu telling him that Amma wanted to give the > piece of paper to him, in which she had written the 4 questions in > malayalam. I had the good fortune of being shown the paper by Raghu. > > He intends to frame it, as per advice from senior devotees and disciples. > > Jai Ma! > > Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha! > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2005 Report Share Posted December 14, 2005 Thanks for clarifying some of the story around Raghu's inquiry, Manoj. What a treasure. She certainly made a big fuss over the questions. And another example of how speculating about Amma's actions & words leads to endless "layers" of complexity. One thing means one thing to one person, another thing to someone else, etc. etc. etc. I love the "big" Q&A sessions, because so often the answers to one devotee's question(s) end up illuminating other folks' situations as well. much love, Prashanti On 12/11/05, manoj_menon <ammademon wrote: > > The next day,when he showed up for darshan, Swamiji took the paper out of > his > pocket and gave it to Raghu telling him that Amma wanted to give the > piece of paper to him, in which she had written the 4 questions in > malayalam... He intends to frame it, as per advice from senior devotees > and disciples. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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