Guest guest Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Does anyone have the Toronto Q&A? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 > Does anyone have the Toronto Q&A? > > Sorry I wasn't taking notes during "Question Period" (to use the Canadian parliamentary term), but I am sure someone will oblige you. BTW, I miss having the meditation/Q&A outdoors, like they used to during the Bryant College retreats. Keval Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 The Toronto Q&A was notable for this funny translation/wording leela between Amma and Big Swami. He'd start in, and then she'd stop him and explain something, and he'd try again, and this was repeated several times. Brs. Dayamrita and Shantamrita (Shaktamrita?) both tried to help with wording, but to no avail... it was really quite funny. I can only help with the first question, because the second question wasn't answered, and after that I had to duck out to get into the dinner line right away, so I could be back in the hall as soon as possible to help people line up for darshan (I was doing a lot of line entry seva.) Working from memory here... The first question took up about 40 minutes. It was: Amma, is it all just karma, or is it compassion that gives us suffering to lead us to the goal? This question, as I said, took about 40 minutes to answer, and the short version is: You can think of it as karma or you can think of it as compassion. The slightly longer version is that whatever we suffer is due to our actions. But there is a story. There was a man who heard a loud noise and took off running in the forest. While he was running, he stepped on a thorn. After that, he slowed down and became very careful. Then he saw a deadly cobra in his path ahead of him. Because he had slowed down and become careful, he did not run into the snake and get bitten. (There was some back and forth on whether there was a cobra, or a big deep hole, or both... finally Swamiji said "Ok, there was a poisonous snake, there was no big hole.") The point is that the suffering we endure is small suffering that enables us to avoid much bigger suffering. The second question was about how we have our consciousness focussed outward, but when we're around Amma it does a 180º flip and goes inward - and if she has any advice on how we can keep it flipped that way. But, again, there was some leela going on with wording and clarity, and the question stumbled a bit - such that Swamiji said "I'm sorry, what was the question?" Amma told the questioner to write it down and she would answer it later. Hopefully someone else has whatever came next! On 28-Jul-06, at 11:58 PM, Mike Brooker wrote: > > > Does anyone have the Toronto Q&A? > > > > > > Sorry I wasn't taking notes during "Question Period" > (to use the Canadian parliamentary term), but I am > sure someone will oblige you. > > . > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 Ammachi, "ckeniley2003" <ckeniley2003 wrote: > > Does anyone have the Toronto Q&A? > > Thanks! > Hi C, I missed the Q & A myself due to seva but a friend very kindly took notes for me. Laura's already covered the first question, so I'll post what I've got for the other one that was answered. (I think there was one question in the middle that Amma said she would answer later). And thanks K for taking the notes! At Her feet, Nirmala. Q. For a long time cultures lived peacefully- will there ever be justice for these peaceful cultures we have lost? A. Amma says we cannot blame God for that, it is our fault. It's like a drunk driver getting in an accident and blaming the petrol. It is we who destroy, not God. We should try to bring back those old cultures. When we are in a car we must fasten our seatbelts; that is the dharma of the road. Mother says we should have strong determination to revive old cultures. We have the capacity to revive this dharma. We must try to restore the harmony of nature by bringing back this old dharma (right action). When we are successful we call a press conference. When we fail we like to blame someone else. It is very practical to nurture nature. If we don't do this, nature will react and we will have to go through the consequences. Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods- all because we don't protect the laws of nature. In olden days our ancestors worshipped nature. The ancients had compassion, we think only of our own existence. The ancients supported all living beings. As a child Amma saw poor fishermen taking only some of the turtle eggs that had been laid in order to protect the species. There are 3 types of people: 1. Instinctive type- they only consider themselves 2. They eat what they get plus what everyone else gets 3. They share with others Unfortunately, we are going backwards; we are getting very greedy. We could create a change by being generous and giving to others. In today's world we are falling apart even though technology and science have advanced-for example not all can afford a transplant. We have eradicated some diseases, yes, but now we have bigger problems. Divine grace alone can restore us. We should plant more trees and become more alert to nature. Don't blame God. The real question is not whether God exists or not. We should become practical. God helps those who help themselves- in a practical, logical, sensible way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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