My Golden Mother

[Guest guest]

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

I feel so depleted by this ongoing conversation about finances. It hurts

my heart to want to avoid opening posts from the Amma list... not because

I would prefer to take an ostrich-like avoidance. Au contraire -- I am

quite the conflict joiner, an aggressiveness which makes me think quite

hard sometimes about Mother's name for me.

 

As I am typing this, I am getting a funny scent of Windex... it does not

appear to be coming from any natural source close enough to reach my

nose... and it makes me think we all have some spots on our glasses and a

dirty mirror in which we are trying to see and look. Very interesting...

 

Anyway, this seemed like a relevant quote.

 

On Aug 10, 1985, as recorded in ETERNAL WISDOM, Upadeshamritam Volume I,

page 130, there was a trip to Kollam and a brief conversation about the

money thing came up. "During the trip, Br. Venu (Swami Pranavamritananda)

said to Mother, 'Recently a devotee told me that he had no faith in

mahatmas, because they live in the midst of wealth, even accumulating

millions.' Mother replied, "We cannot judge them on such grounds. Look at

all the ornaments adorning the deities in the temples. Do we blame God

for all of that? People do not consider the good actions of the

mahatmas."

 

(btw, the conversation goes on to a good discussion about women's place in

an ashram, especially with the cultural pressures on Indian girls.)

 

I myself do not "blame" God, nor any of the rippling circles of devotees

through whose actions our collective karma (if there is such a thing) as

supporters of the M.A. Math may be taking on new levels of complexity as

the sheer size and volume of devotees and donations grow. If anything, I

give Mother a lot of credit for "taking back" some of the superfluous

wealth accumulated here while post-colonial India still grapples with the

underdevelopment issues and social restructuring needed after the

disruptions of the British Raj.

 

And hasn't tithing always been a big part of religious

institutionalization? I was raised Irish-Catholic, and my grandmother had

about 60+ envelopes a year that she filled with small checks -- every

sunday plus extra for the major holidays -- to put in the basket and pay

for the church and the school and the rectory and all the caretakers who

kept the worship place clean and looking nice. Besides her own church,

that of course educated her son and ministered to her spiritual needs, she

also sent money regularly to support various monastic orders such as the

Franciscan Friars. And always gave things like stamps, film, nylon

pantyhose to her three sisters-in-law that are/were nuns with a vow of

poverty, or helped purchase small "luxury" items for a family friend and a

cousin who were in the priesthood. You know, pretty basic things like a

new scarf or pair of gloves when one of the Fathers was transferred to

blustery upstate New York. Sometimes a piece of ceremonial -- a new

chalice for example -- to mark a jubilee in their life of service to the

Church.

 

She may have done some part of it out of ego; surely we get satisfaction

out of "giving" because we can and because it feels compensatory for our

own human sins of ignorance and selfishness. But she certainly did it

mostly out of gratitude that certain religious were there to help maintain

our communion with God and the spiritual realm.

 

While we live in a material world, those of us who are "householders" do,

I firmly believe, have a duty to uphold our responsibilities to provide

for those who are working for the greater good of this world.

 

There's that windex again.

 

Love and Glory Glory to Gauri!

xo Prashanti

 

R.B.M. Gallop

Women's Studies and History, Queens College, City University of NY

Doctoral Candidate, Department of History, University of Minnesota

 

"To one who doesn't hear the music the dancers look crazy." Sufi proverb

[Guest guest]

"My Golden Mother" is actually the national anthem of

Bangladesh, written in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore.

Tagore also composed "Jana Gana Mana", India's

national anthem!

 

view text and listen to midi versions here:

http://www.thenationalanthems.com/country/bangladesh.htm

http://www.thenationalanthems.com/country/india.htm

 

 

Keval

(they don't call me "Mr. Useless Information" for nothing)