Guest guest Posted April 7, 2006 Report Share Posted April 7, 2006 Here are my notes from the Kyneton Question and Answer session with Amma. Read on for the funniest question ever! (No. 2) Jyotsna 1. I want to know how I can love myself more. A. In reality we are love, the embodiment of love. Even though we are kings and queens of the universe, we have a deep-rooted habit of begging. We live and die as beggars. Loving oneself doesn't mean loving the ego. It means giving love, not receiving it. Worldly love always has strings attached. It's like a small snake swallowing a big frog. Both will struggle. We love our cow as long as it gives milk; then we send it to the slaughterhouse when it quits giving milk. When we give love, we are actually loving ourselves. Expecting love is like mixing salt with sweet pudding or ice cream. It will lose it's flavor. As children we had to depend on others. Perhaps because of this we have forgotten our own nature. In reality we are not candles or lamps that have to be lighted, but the luminous sun. Depending on someone else for love or support is like a one-legged person leaning on another one-legged person for support. In fact we have the unlimited power of love within us. Both a porter and a scientist use their heads, only in different ways. When we give love, our hearts open up. When we give love, the whole world changes. It's difficult to keep a loving attitude, but we should try. Expecting love from the world is like trying to row a boat on land. Expecting love from the outside world makes us weaker and eventually we collapse. We need to awaken from childishness to a child-like state. The scriptures say to arise and awaken. We have awakened, but we are still lying in bed. We have not arisen. Life is a pendulum; it swings back and forth between happiness and unhappiness. The mid-point is the equilibrium. Loving ourselves means developing good qualities within us. Love is God. However much we talk about it, it is endless. It is the quintessence of all scriptures. The problem is that we start expecting love back, that's when the problem starts. Love that springs from emotions is not true love. When love grows and becomes more and more expansive it becomes universal love. Talking about love becomes boring. Experiencing it is the answer. Only when you start loving will you know what true love is. 2. This is a personal question and I apologize for being so direct, but I've noticed that when Amma becomes ecstatic during bhajans, she makes this motion with her hand. ((hand motion)) I'm wondering if at this time Divine Fragrance is coming from her heart and she is wafting it back through her nostrils with her hand? A. Amma laughed and shook her hands very hard. Swamiji translated: Amma says you are the best joker. If you go for a competition, you'll win the first prize! Amma says that when you are drunk, you don't know what you are doing. Amma says I am always sitting still, changeless inside the vehicle. The vehicle may be moving, but Amma is still. Amma will share this joke with eveyone in India!!! The fragrance comes from within. Amma doesn't have to smell it back!!! 3. I'm sorry to ask a really serious question after that funny one, but is karma really fair? It seems like when I try to do good or help and it turns out bad for them. Is karma fair? (Amma giggled to herself again.) A. When we go through a set of experiences or one or two experiences, we cannot simply conclude that if we do good we get bad experiences. There are so many lifetimes and so many subtle influences. Some karma is joint with friends or family. We still have to pay. Story about Buddha: When the Buddha went to a village, one of the villagers spat in his face. His disciples were very angry, but Buddha said, "I may have spat on him in a previous life, so I am getting it back. Why should I be upset?" If we go up and caress a child, and the child spits in our face, what is there to do? Live in the world with a proper attitude. None of us are Self-realized, so we cannot understand the hearts of others. Don't expect a frog to be an elephant. A frog will be a frog. Amma told the story in the Bible about the man who was forgiven a large debt and then would not forgive someone else even a small debt. The man who had forgiven the large debt pointed this out to the man who wouldn't forgive. If we become like other people who commit mistakes, ' what will be the condition of the world? End of session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 8, 2006 Report Share Posted April 8, 2006 Dearest Jyotsna, I bow down to you for your efforts and scribe talents....REALLY . Thank you so very much for your efforts in finding an online connection, and for taking the time to post this ( as I saw from the Aus. web site that the retreat was not held in a hotel, but in a more spartan setting) , as you must be tired from the program. Reading these notes from the Q & A session with Amma, has made my day, and next week toooo. THANKS A WHOLE LOT. In Amma's Love, sarama - Iceland ___________________ -- In Ammachi, "E. Lamb" <jyotsna2 wrote: > > Here are my notes from the Kyneton Question and Answer > session with Amma. Read on for the funniest question ever! > (No. 2) > > Jyotsna > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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