Guest guest Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 Namah Shivaya, Keval, I thought Amma's Devi Bhava sari was indeed a royal blue - and gorgeously worked with gold and silver and shimmery light blue details. (I got ten minutes of close-up view with lap seva, and then saw the print of the picture taken at the beginning. I guess we won't know for sure about the exact hue until we see the sari up for sale this fall!) She seemed particularly youthful and playful (in a wild ageless sort of way) in this Devi Bhava. Not exactly Kali, though She would answer to that name... perhaps Lalita! Eknath's dancing on the stage at the end of Devi Bhava night was delightful and, it seemed to me, infused with Amma's shakti as the room's enthusiasm grew with his (and Big Swami was cheering him on with the way he sang Amrita Vahini!) I think that he has really blossomed even just in the time since I saw him in Ann Arbor last fall. And he's still doing the forehead thing (where he pulls you in and holds his forehead against yours for a second or two) a few times a day. Toronto satsang sounded great in bhajans, even if you got cut short. And the Quebec satsang musicians really did rock the house! "Hail To Your Glory" is great - reminded me of the kind of good old Protestant church hymn that everyone's grandfather knows and the whole congregation belts right out. "Ambe Jagadambe" seems to have supplanted "Jai Ma Ambe" this year as the blow-you-away shakti storm bhajan of choice that comes before arati. Those of us who got to the public programs and the retreat got to experience it twice! All I can say is - what a ride. Jai Ma, Laura On 28-Jul-06, at 11:53 PM, Mike Brooker wrote: > > > First thing many of you would like to know: for the > Toronto devi bhava Amma was wearing dark blue or > purple sari..hard to tell exactly because of the > bright lights in the "temple".. > > speaking of asperger's and autism-spectrum, there was > a very sweet experience during the first day of the > retreat.. an autistic boy about 12 or 13 years old > received a name from Amma (Eknath, IIRC).. > > > > There's always at least one new bhajan that after > hearing sung for the first time I think "that's a > keeper!" last year it was Amma Baramma.. really like > that one because of its simple bouncy melody and sweet > lyrics. Jury is still out on the new 2006 bhajans, > but am particuarly fond of an English Ram bhajan "Hail > to your glory"..sounds like a high school or college > fight song! and if you like Kannada or Telugu bhajans, > get the World Tour 2006 volume I CD. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 29, 2006 Report Share Posted July 29, 2006 thanks keval for a very nice update. your innocence and love of amma shine through. amma bless, amarnath Ammachi, Mike Brooker <patria1818 wrote: > > As I put away my white duds and my ankle-length skirt > (ERRRR! dhoti) until the full-dress satsang uniform is > needed again in late November.. tonight I just wanted > to crack open a cold beer and watch the Blue Jays > game.. not do anything at all spiritual or > Amma-related this weekend.. and try to avoid the > emotional crash landing, baby-like crying sprees and > pain of separation from mother that I usually > experience in the few days after being with Amma.. was > quite an emotional yo-yo the week after returning from > chicago. > > First thing many of you would like to know: for the > Toronto devi bhava Amma was wearing dark blue or > purple sari..hard to tell exactly because of the > bright lights in the "temple".. but it reminded me of > the Minnesota Vikings jersey. I was hoping she would > wear red and white (Canada's official colours) or > royal blue - the traditional Toronto colour, as in the > Maple Leafs jerseys and Ontario license plates, which > have been blue and white for some 80 years. > > was on site early (around 5:30 AM) Sunday morning to > help prepare the hall for the public program.. helping > to set up the hall, and put up the signage was one of > my sevas.. moving from the Renaissance Parque banquet > hall (public program site) to the Sheraton (retreat > and devi bhava site) was a logistical nightmare.. > early Monday morning after the public program ended, > we had to pack up and box everything and load it on > the MA Center's semi trailer and a couple of rented > trucks, then unload same at the hotel some 15 km > away.. quite a lot of heavy lifting, including a > number of shrink-wrapped skids that needed to be moved > with a pallet jack, or better still a forklift truck, > if we had one.. had to do this grunt work twice in a > 24 hour period.. brought back memories of one of my > previous jobs working as a shipper/receiver.. we would > have liked to hold the public programs at the Sheraton > Parkway but it was booked for another function on > Sunday July 23rd, so the Amma Foundation of Canada had > to find an alternate site.. the Parque banquet hall > was a nice facility with more than enough square > footage, but some of the people who manage it were > jerking us around and weren't friendly to us at all.. > hopefully we won't have to deal with two separate > venues next year.. and the Sheraton Parkway folks do > want our business again in '07. > > Unlike Chicago earlier this month, didn't have much > time to just hang out in the hall and soak it all in.. > being part of the host satsang meant seva coming out > the wazoo.. if I were a married man, would say it felt > like Honeydew, i.e. the wife's constant nagging "honey > do this, honey do that"! I even had to help out as > a greeter.. not the easiest thing for me having to > smile and make eye contact with strangers, because of > asperger's syndrome limiting my social skills.. begged > out of darshan front line (formerly known as assistant > lap) seva because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle > the multi-tasking and over-stimulation. > > speaking of asperger's and autism-spectrum, there was > a very sweet experience during the first day of the > retreat.. an autistic boy about 12 or 13 years old > received a name from Amma (Eknath, IIRC).. he sang > "Jai Ambe" and a couple of other simple bhajans with > help from the people around him.. don't really know > how high his level of functioning is. you may > remember seeing him in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and last > year in Toronto.. so full of energy, like the > Energizer bunny, particularly when there are > high-octane bhajans.. keeps on going and going.;. he > was even dancing on the stage during devi bhava. > > Toronto satsang also got jerked around with the time > for our bhajan kirtan group to sing.. there was a > leela of some kind with the exact time we would be > given and we got cut short by the guy operating the > sound board and/or one of the swamis, with not enough > time allotted for all of us to sing.. myself > included.. was going to sing an old-school Ram bhajan > (v. II, p. 94) that I had been practicing for several > weeks.. but fortunately a couple of satsang members > who had never sung for Amma before did get their > opportunity. Seemed like the Quebec and Ann Arbor > satsangs got more singing time than us.. IMHO didn't > think that was fair as the Toronto satsang are the > home team and this is our home rink/court/field. > > while in her whites, Amma wears a long-sleeve top, so > you don't see her exercise the Second Amendment right > to bare arms (sorry, couldn't resist the lame-ass > pun!).. but while doing lap seva during devi bhava, I > really noticed how strong and powerful Amma's forearms > were.. seemed like tree trunks! made me think of > Hanuman, or Popeye the sailor after megadosing on > spinach.. OTOH, while doing prasad hand-out, I always > notice how tiny her hands are. > > There's always at least one new bhajan that after > hearing sung for the first time I think "that's a > keeper!" last year it was Amma Baramma.. really like > that one because of its simple bouncy melody and sweet > lyrics. Jury is still out on the new 2006 bhajans, > but am particuarly fond of an English Ram bhajan "Hail > to your glory"..sounds like a high school or college > fight song! and if you like Kannada or Telugu bhajans, > get the World Tour 2006 volume I CD. > > now back to the Blue Jays game (a late one, as they're > playing in Oakland tonight!) > > Keval > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2006 Report Share Posted July 30, 2006 thanks, keval, for sharing your experiences. i just love hearing these! Mike Brooker wrote: > > As I put away my white duds and my ankle-length skirt > (ERRRR! dhoti) until the full-dress satsang uniform is > needed again in late November.. tonight I just wanted > to crack open a cold beer and watch the Blue Jays > game.. not do anything at all spiritual or > Amma-related this weekend.. and try to avoid the > emotional crash landing, baby-like crying sprees and > pain of separation from mother that I usually > experience in the few days after being with Amma.. was > quite an emotional yo-yo the week after returning from > chicago. > -- "Naan Amme Snehikkunnu" Be Love, Nischala http://www.ammasgirl.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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