Guest guest Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 Dear All, I'm so glad Bala is not unsubscribing! Is that Amma's rock tumbler rough or what? I can't help but reflect that all this anguish was primarily due to the disgruntlement of one former Amma devotee. If you ever think that one person isn't important, think again. Glad you're staying aboard, Bala! As my contribution to more uplifting stories on this forum, I'm submitting an experience that I wrote last year for the local program booklet. Some of you may have already read it, so I apologize if that's the case. Amma and the Free Ticket In July of 1999 I had accrued enough frequent flyer miles to qualify for a free trip to India. Because I didn’t have enough miles at the time I booked the trip, but anticipated having them within the required two months, I put my ticket on hold July 9th. The booking agent stressed to me that this was absolutely the last “award travel” seat available during the busy Y2K holiday period during which I would be flying. All I had to do to keep the ticket was to reconfirm every 30 days until I received credit for the miles I had coming. I was to check back by August 9th. No problem, I thought, since going to Mother’s ashram was vitally important to me. Well, somehow the impossible happened, and as I was returning home from a satsang function on August 10th, I suddenly realized I had failed to call before the 9th! As soon as I reached home I called the airline and was told that my ticket had been cancelled and “my” seat had been taken by another passenger. This was a major disaster, both for financial reasons and because a friend had booked her flight to meet me in Bombay! In vain, the airline employee checked all flights for days before and after the day of my original flight. Absolutely nothing was available. Suddenly, I intuitively felt I should say goodbye and call back and talk to another airline employee. So thanking the employee, I hung up and redialed the number. By this time I was sobbing and praying to Amma with my whole heart. Amid sobs, I told the young man who answered that I had done a really stupid thing and let my ticket lapse. He said, “You’re going to have to give me some time to check because this is very, very complicated. As the minutes passed, I began to feel calm. Finally, I asked, “How does it look?” Quietly he replied, “It looks good!” With bated breath I waited. Then finally he said, “It looks as though I can rebook all your original flights.” Amazingly, (we use that word a lot around Amma!) he was able to rebook all my five separate flights to India as well as the four flights back! And just minutes before I had been told it was impossible! I threw myself on the floor and thanked Amma, the Divine Mother! (Note: After thinking about this ”miracle” for several months, I called the airline to see if a hunch was correct. In retrospect I had realized that I felt the urge to hang up and redial at almost exactly 10 p.m. Seattle time. The airline’s offices are in the central time zone, so that meant it was 12:00 midnight there. My conversation with the second airline employee took place at 12:00 a.m. their time. It was later confirmed by the company that 12:00 midnight is when the computer “kicks out” any unconfirmed reservations. So my call was made the exact minute that new seats were becoming available! Who but Amma could have provided such perfect timing?) Her little girl, Jyotsna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 On Wed, 17 Sep 2003, E. Lamb wrote: Who but Amma > could have provided such perfect timing?) Yes! Yes! Like driving back to NYC after the Rhode Island Devi Bhava this summer. Anand, from Berkeley, needed to catch a 3 p.m. flight and by the time we left Smithfield the 11:00 a.m. timing did not look good -- it took more than four hours on the way up -- and he was resigning himself to standby later in the evening. But we ZIPPED down the highway as if we were floating, hit traffic in the Bronx approaching the bridge, then found a sidetrack around the bridge backup (singing an Amma bhajan loudly as I felt my way through a "shortcut" I had only heard about my husband using to avoid this kind of snarl). I dropped him at the curb in LaGuardia at 1:55 p.m. and we both looked at each other, AMMA-MAZED! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2003 Report Share Posted September 18, 2003 That is such an awesome story!!! Thank you for sharing it again - I'm new enough to the list that I didn't catch it the first time around. Lately I've felt distance between me and my spiritual life, mosly due to my lack of keeping a regular schedule, but also due to lack of spiritual socializing. Reading about your experiences on this list helps me feel a bit closer. Thank you!!! With love, Gabriela --- "E. Lamb" <jyotsna2 wrote: > Dear All, > > I'm so glad Bala is not unsubscribing! Is that > Amma's > rock tumbler rough or what? I can't help but > reflect > that all this anguish was primarily due to the > disgruntlement of one former Amma devotee. > If you ever think that one person isn't > important, think again. Glad you're staying aboard, > Bala! > > As my contribution to more uplifting stories on this > forum, I'm submitting an experience that I wrote > last year for the local program booklet. Some of > you may have already read it, so I apologize if > that's the case. > > Amma and the Free Ticket > > In July of 1999 I had accrued enough frequent > flyer miles to qualify for a free trip to India. > Because I didn’t have enough miles at the time I > booked the trip, but anticipated having them within > the required two months, I put my ticket on hold > July > 9th. The booking agent stressed to me that this was > absolutely the last “award travel” seat available > during the busy Y2K holiday period during which I > would be flying. All I had to do to keep the ticket > was to reconfirm every 30 days until I received > credit > for the miles I had coming. I was to check back by > August 9th. No problem, I thought, since going to > Mother’s ashram was vitally important to me. > > Well, somehow the impossible happened, and as I > was returning home from a satsang function on August > 10th, I suddenly realized I had failed to call > before > the 9th! As soon as I reached home I called the > airline and was told that my ticket had been > cancelled > and “my” seat had been taken by another passenger. > This was a major disaster, both for financial > reasons > and because a friend had booked her flight to meet > me > in Bombay! In vain, the airline employee checked > all > flights for days before and after the day of my > original flight. Absolutely nothing was available. > > Suddenly, I intuitively felt I should say > goodbye > and call back and talk to another airline employee. > So thanking the employee, I hung up and redialed the > number. By this time I was sobbing and praying to > Amma with my whole heart. Amid sobs, I told the > young > man who answered that I had done a really stupid > thing > and let my ticket lapse. He said, “You’re going to > have to give me some time to check because this is > very, very complicated. As the minutes passed, I > began to feel calm. Finally, I asked, “How does it > look?” Quietly he replied, “It looks good!” With > bated breath I waited. Then finally he said, “It > looks as though I can rebook all your original > flights.” Amazingly, (we use that word a lot around > Amma!) he was able to rebook all my five separate > flights to India as well as the four flights back! > And just minutes before I had been told it was > impossible! > > I threw myself on the floor and thanked Amma, the > Divine Mother! > > (Note: After thinking about this ”miracle” for > several months, I called the airline to see if a > hunch > was correct. In retrospect I had realized that I > felt > the urge to hang up and redial at almost exactly 10 > p.m. Seattle time. The airline’s offices are in the > central time zone, so that meant it was 12:00 > midnight > there. My conversation with the second airline > employee took place at 12:00 a.m. their time. It > was > later confirmed by the company that 12:00 midnight > is > when the computer “kicks out” any unconfirmed > reservations. So my call was made the exact minute > that new seats were becoming available! Who but > Amma > could have provided such perfect timing?) > > > Her little girl, > Jyotsna > > > > > > > SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site > design software > > > ------------------------ Sponsor > > Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha! > > Ammachi > > > Your use of is subject to > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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