Howdy Do! Namaste!

[Guest guest]

Dear Ones

 

It would have been nice if I had introduced myself instead of going

into request mode immediately. Apologies.

 

I am Aikya. I go to events at the M.A. Center in San Ramon and just

met Amma and had several hugs during her recent trip to San Ramon

around Thanksgiving.

 

Previously I studied Sanskrit and Vedanta with Pujya Swami Dayananda

Saraswati of Arsha Vidya Pitham. I was happy to find that Swami

Ramakrishnandanda knows of Swami Dayananda and is enjoying his

books. I notice that many things in Amma's family are exactly the

same as what I know from ashram days with Swami Dayananda. You all

chant the same verses for Grace Before Meals, for one thing. It

makes me feel like I am visiting the cousins.

 

Currently, I am completing a Master's Degree in Women's Spirituality

at New College of California. My trip to Kerala with that program

last February has had a profound effect on me. While there, I came

to appreciate so many things about Kerala and the people! I learned

about the plight of the Untouchables and the progress Kerala has made

in changing the situation for the better. I couldn't bear to write a

thesis on this painful topic here in the U.S when so few Americans

know anything about India and know perhaps less about sanatana dharma

which has brought so much beauty to me.

 

Then I visited the MA Center, hoping to sing bhajans. Alas I could

not sing. Songs were mostly in Malayalam or were new to me. I

bought all three (that's all that were available) song books, took

them home and fell madly in love with the Malayalam songs to Devi.

In reading about Amma, I realized that she comes from a caste which

would have been considered "Untouchable!" Our Amma who hugs

everyone, who touches everyone, who feeds us --thus breaking every

single restriction placed on her ancestors, among other things.

 

So now I am researching and writing a thesis on the transformational

power of devotional singing at the MA Center. And a wonderful

opportunity to share the same material has come up for me this coming

March 2002 when I will present a paper at the west coast conference

of the American Academy of Religion.

 

Aikya