Devi

[Guest guest]

>> Earlier in the month around mid July, we had an Ammachi retreat here where I

work...I usually try to stop by for

the food.:: >>

Ah, yes, Harsha...yummm...the Ammachi devotees do make great food. : )

And Harsha also wrote:

>> So I took off my shoes and socks like everyone and put them on the rack outside

the hall and went in for the Puja. <<

I have not seen Ammachi for three years now, and I miss Her. Reading

what you wrote here reminded me how much. The Devi Puja you attended

is one of my favorite rituals. I suppose they put people in groupings

of four for convenience. When you realize that all the water being

used, and all the camphor "lamps" (really little spoons with a piece

or two of camphor) are coming first from water and fire blessed by

Amma it is amazing, just as a feat of organization. I love the

mystery...the ones I remember were done in relative darkness, so the

light Amma uses and all our little lights are the only illumination.

I love the chant, "Om para shaktiyai namaha." Amma, I realize is

coming from a different side of Vedic tradition, yet when I have read

her words, She very often speaks of nonduality and the Absolute beyond

description. Yet her own manner of approaching the Divine is richly

symbolic and colorful. And having flowers tossed in your hair (or

your face) by Divine Mother during Devi Bhava is an experience of

indescrible...ahhh... What I also find amazing is how long Amma goes

without rest, bathroom breaks, food. She will sit literally all day

giving darshan, and then on Devi Bhava day, after doing this until 3

or 4 in the morning, then She will disappear into Her little "tent"

at the front of the hall and emerge garbed as Divine Mother, Devi

(otherwise, She always wears just a simple white sari). Your

description of your encounter with the devotees has brought all this

back to me in a seamless, no separation manner. Thank you. Shanti ~

Linda