Amma in Seattle -- update

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody,

 

I went to Seattle for the retreat, and I thought those of you who could not

go

might like some updates.

 

There were about 650 people, and the spacious facilities and the wonderful

weather

made for a great location. Very scenic and green, too. And Amma was

staying right

on the PLU campus, which made it seem a little like living in Amritapuri.

The Seattle people had done a good job of organizing everything. I

mentioned to

Amma that my room was rather small, and she personally asked

the retreat staff to find me something else, which they quickly did.

(I ruefully added to Amma that when I found myself wanting a good pillow, I

asked myself

how I would ever become a sadhak, and Amma wryly remarked, "At least you

thought about it in that manner." She knows that I am not a big fan of

sadhana.)

 

Amma was her usual self, laughing and joking, giving out names etc.

The question-answer was held in a beautiful glade.

 

Q: What does it mean when you say that the past is a canceled cheque? Does

it

mean that effects of past karma have been erased?

A: Yes, don't carry any guilt with you. You are clean. Just don't keep

making mistakes.

You can erase a pencil mark with a rubber eraser, but repeatedly writing and

erasing will

tear the paper. (Amma mentioned abortion as a particular example of what

many

of her children feel guilty about).

 

Amritatmananda Swami gave a sweet talk in a dramatic tone, in which he

explained that

he had been very proud that having spent some time in the Himalayas, he was

better

at meditation than the other devotees. Amma held a little test to

see who could meditate for 1.5 hours, and he was confident that he alone

could

do it. When the time came, however, he found that the mantra he used to

ease into meditation had completely left his mind, and instead of

visualizing Amma's

feet as he was wont to do, only a terrible Kali form came to his mind.

He opened his eyes after 15 minutes to see Amma's mischievous smile, and it

was then that he

fell crying into Amma's lap. Amma soothed him, and sent him back to

meditate,

and then, in a flash, he remembered his mantra.

 

Amma was giving out names, and was occasionally asking me what the names'

meanings

were (I was kind of thrilled at this). She was thinking of Madhavi for a

woman, and

when I told her that it meant the wife of Madhavan (Krishna), slayer of

Madhu, she

decided that it was not suitable for that particular woman, for whom a

wifely

name was not right.

 

On Saturday, Amma danced with a pair of hand cymbals moving around at the

edge

of a large circle that we had formed. She asked everyone to try to be in

bliss while

she was dancing, and to imagine the divine.

 

I came back to California today, before Devi Bhava.

 

I hope everyone is able to enjoy Amma outside and inside very soon.

 

Nandu

Vallath Nandakumar

vallathn

 

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