Digest Number 268

[Guest guest]

Om Namah Sivaya.

 

I just read my mail today...and my response...

 

<<

I went to Amma's Devi Bhava in New York, July 11th, bringing a couple of

friends with me. The location has changed; after many years at the

Unitarian Church on Central Park West, Amma was relocated uptown at Roone

Arledge Auditorium at Columbia University. Many of the devotees

attending had mixed feelings about the move. The area is larger, and air

conditioned (taking darshan of Ammachi when not covered in perspiration?

A novel concept!). But it's not a religious or spiritual environment --

no stained glass, no pews, no religious ornamentation (of whatever

faith).

>>

 

It seems each year they squeeze the devotees into a tighter space. As a

"special needs" handicapped person, I found the few chairs available

<very> uncomfortable. But the moment Amma appeared, any complaints were

forgotten. She and Swami Amritsvaroopananda gave a long, but often funny

talk. The puja is becoming more and more <manasic>, as ritual props

continue to disappear. Years ago, each devotee was provided with a few

flower petals to offer in the puja. That stopped a couple of years ago.

Now (probably because the crowd is pressed closer and closer together),

the oil lamps and camphor spoons were done away with. Might I suggest

that, if the crowd cannot be trusted with fire in such tight quarters,

that Amma have a lamp, and camphor flame, and bell on the stage with her

as the puja progresses?

>>

 

Amma needs no props or atmosphere...wherever she is, IS a temple by

definition.

 

It is impossible to comprehend the depth of compassion which Amma shows us,

veiled in Maya as we are.

 

One sight of her is the result of aeons of evolution and accummulated

spiritual merit.

Let us not waste a moment on Maya, but reach for the Devi who is reaching for

us.

 

Om Siva Shaktyakyai rupini...

 

respectfully,

Usha