cowdust. . .

[Guest guest]

Namaste

 

dear Amma Family. . .many years ago. . . picked up a small pamplet book

on a bargain table. . .it cost 25 cents and it is truly a priceless

little book. . .It is called Kali The Mother by Sister Nivedita. . .a

collection of essays on the Divine Mother. . . and published in Calcutta

long time ago. . . often will read a few sentences and see so much of

Amma's life story within it. . .

 

" Our daily life creates our symbol of God. . .No two ever covers quite

the same conception. . . Yet we know that each group of people express

differently. . .

 

" In the North we speak of a certain hour as " twilight, " implying a

space of time between the day and night. In India, the same moments

receive the name of " time of union, " since there is no period of

half-light,---the hours of sun and darkness seem to touch each other in

a point. . . The illustration can be carried further. In the word

gloaming lies for us a wealth of associations,---the throbbing of the

falling dusk the tenderness of home coming, the last sleep laughter of

children. The same emotional note is stuck in the Indian languages by

the expression of the hour of cowdust.

 

How graphic is the difference! Yonder, beyond the grass, the cow-girl

leads her cattle home to the village for the night. Their feet as they

go strike the dust from the sun-baked path into a cloud behind them.

The herd-girl herself looms large across the pasture---all things grow

quickly dim, as if the air were filled with the rising dust.. . . "

 

I think of Amma as a small child and how she loved the animals and

tended to the cows. . .i visualize the sacred dust that was stirred up

and how metaphorically it has filtered to the entire world. . . and now

resides in each of our hearts with its sacredness. . .it is one of my

favorite symbolic images of Amma as a child. . .

 

I also stretch the metaphor a bit more and see Amma's incarnation at

this time where sun and darkness seem to touch with its hidden potential

for union. . .for balance. . .where light and dark within and without

find sacred still point. . . as being compared to the hour of cowdust. .

..where the world is in such transition. . .and Her Holy Feet scatter up

the Holy dust that filters into the world and we will be sustained by

the ground of being that comes from Her sacred Feet. . .

 

The first time i went to Amma. . .was not for sure how to approach Her

with a request for healing and HELP!. . .there was a brahmacharinin

that was speaking with new devotees and those with questions. . .

approached her and explained a bit of my situation . . .my eyes started

to well with tears. . .in my pride i wanted to meet Amma as a vessel

ready to serve, rather than one that needed healing. . .the tears where

a mixture of so many emotions that could not express. . .the

brahmacharinin was Sita beautiful. . .and the beauty radiated from

within. . .now know that was Amma shinning within and through her. .

..but as my tears started to well. . she said. . . " don't feel bad about

asking for Amma's healing. . .the first time i went to Amma i received a

healing. . .my entire life i was terrified of the dark. . .and after

receving her darshan for the first time i was completely healed of the

phobia to darkensss. . . " When she told her about this healing, i

remember saying; " How symbolic is that " . . . the magic of Amma. . .no

darkness is to be feared. . .for She has overcome the darkness. . .in

the lives of the children. . . Jai Ma. . .

 

Aum Amriteswaryai Namaha

 

marci