San Ramon Q & A: Mad at the Guru

[Guest guest]

M.A. Center

San Ramon, CA

 

Evening Program

June 13, 2003

 

This is one of several question and answer exchanges between

Amma and devotees following Bippin Nair's talk on Friday, June 13,

2003 at the M.A Center in San Ramon, California.

 

WOMAN: Sometimes, when I think that you [Amma] want me to do

something that I don't want to do, I call you names. At the time, I

am angry but, in my heart, I don't mean it. I want to know how much

this is adding to her karma and keeping Amma's grace away from me. I

am really very worried about this because I do it a lot.

 

AMMA: What we need to remove is the feeling of "I" and "mine.' It

is that feeling that is the biggest obstacle between us and God.

 

Amma clearly knows that no one like Amma points a finger at

our ego. Such reactions are very common. Call as many names as you

like because you can't do that with anyone else. Amma sees this as

another phase of your love for her.

 

We have been involved with our ego for a long time and it is not easy

to break that attachment. Atma [the Self] and the Supreme

Consciousnesss is one and the same. Only because of our attachment

we see a difference. It is like the reflection of the sun in 100

pots of water. It looks like 100 suns but we know there is only one

sun. Because we look different and we identify with the body, we see

many [but there is only one self]. Once the pots break, we see only

one sun. Amma is breaking the ego. Breaking the ego is like breaking

the pot.

 

We also must transcend our likes and dislikes. Many of us have our

favorite job. When people join, they say what their favorite job is

and Amma gives something else for them to do. If in a village,

everyone wants to be Manager, there will be no peace. People must

recognize their limitations.

 

Because we approach Amma with a positive attitude, Amma wants to

change us. We tell Amma what we want to do. She gives something

else to do. If we complain, Amma says that we must go beyond our

likes and dislikes. If we are very unhappy, she will let us do what

we want. She doesn't want to force us, especially her Western

disciples.

 

It is difficult to transcend the problems created by our own mind. To

do that, we must have the help of a realized master.

 

Whether we say—

 

"'I am Buddhist.

I am Moslem.

I am Jain.

I am a Jew.

I am Christian.—

 

The "I" is common.

 

There followed a bit of confusion. Amma had said something and Swami

Atmasvarupananda did not understand the concept in order to translate

it. Swami Ramakrishnananda was trying to explain what Amma meant to

his brother Swami behind Amma's back. After a few minutes, Amma

waved her hand so that the microphone would be given to Swami

Ramakrishnanananda to translate just this next part.

 

When the rocket is sent, if it did not have enough power, it

will stay in orbit around the earth. It needs an extra rocket, a

booster rocket, so it can get out of earth's orbit. Like that, we

orbit around our likes and dislikes. The guru is like the boostser

rocket to take us out of that orbit.

 

Swami Ramakrishnananda asked if that was clear to us. We all

applauded because it was and the microphone and translation job was

given back to Swami Atmasvarupananda.

 

When we approach Amma for a seva, she gives one and the

person will say, "No. This is not for me" continually until they get

the job they want. They may not do it well and then they may call

Amma names like the devotee who spoke.

 

A guru had two disciples. One day they returned to the

ashram with sad faces. The guru asked one of them what was wrong.

The disciple said that the other disciple had slapped him.

 

"Why did you slap him?" the guru asked the other one.

 

"Because he called me a monkey!" the other disciple answered.

 

The guru said, "For twenty years I have been telling you that

you are pure consciousness, the same consciousness that is in all

beings, but you have never understood. In two seconds, you

identified when this fellow called you a monkey and you slapped him."

 

So Amma clearly knows that she is in an insane asylum. It's

like visiting a zoo. Sometimes Amma is forced to act like one of us.

 

When Amma imparts spiritual guidance, we don't understand and

so we call her names.

 

Once upon a time there was a village. In that village there

was only one well. One day, someone put a spell on the water in that

well. Anybody who drank the water would become crazy. Soon everyone

was crazy except the king and queen. They had a different water

supply. The people in the village thought they were normal. They

became convinced that the king and queen were crazy and should be

killed. They gathered around the palace in an angry mob. To be able

to survive, the king and queen had to act crazy too.

 

It is difficult for a person to catch a thief if the person

dresses like a policeman. It is easier if the person dresses as a

thief so Amma is dressed as a thief among us.

 

A visitor to an insane asylum meets and inmate and asks, "Who

are you?"

 

The inmate says, "I am Christ."

 

The visitor says, "You are not Christ. You are crazy."

 

He asks another inmate, "Who are you?"

 

The inmate replies, "I am Buddha."

 

The visitor says, "You are not Buddha. You are crazy."

 

He asks another inmate, "Who are you?"

 

The inmate replies, "I am Krishna."

 

The visitor says, "You are not Krishna. You are crazy."

 

One inmate asks the visitor, "Who are you?"

 

The visitor says, "I am the doctor."

 

The inmates shout, "You are not the doctor. You are crazy!"

**************

 

>From notes taken by Aikya Param.