Amma, Arunachala, London

[Guest guest]

Dear Members Aficionados of all things Ramana Maharshi and Arunachala

cannot but have noticed that there is a deep flow and regular

interchange between Kerala and the Holy Hill of Tiruvannamalai.

Devotees who find themselves unable to settle often find themselves

involved in pilgrimages from West to East, and vice versa. Our Kunju

Swami as a restless teenager, himself from Kerala, gravitated toward

the Hill of Annamalai, climbing on and upwards to meet the young

Brahmana Swami, who promptly gave him the order to help clean up the

mess which his latest brood of puppies had made. SS Cohen, author of

the classic work Guru Ramana, settled in Sri Ramanasramam itself - and

in the late thirties found himself travelling West to stay in the

Ashram of Sri Swami Ramdas, where he spent some years. In modern

times also we see considerable interflow as pilgrims make their way to

and from the Ashram of Sri Mata Amritanadamayi Devi, more commonly

known as Ammachi or simply "Amma" which means "mother" in more than one

Indian language. On a personal level, our small group attended Amma's

function in Chennai in January 2003; during the proceedings I chatted

with some of the organizers who showed considerable interest that our

residence was in Tiruvannamalai, and we enjoyed a warm and friendly

chat; the darshan of Amma led to an intensification of the darshan of

Sri Arunachala Ramana - an experience which has been recorded in our

archives. Since those days, stories have come across this desk here,

one of which relates how a devotee was undergoing a particularly

difficult time in the base Ashram of Amritapuri; the case received

Amma's personal attention, who commanded "Go to Arunachala for tapas!"

The devotee did as he was ordered, but continued to undergo intense

inner agony; one morning, as the sun rose above the peak to poke its

rays gingerly through the encircling clouds, his pain reached a climax,

and he called out "AMMA...!" in desperation. It must have been an act

of total surrender, for in that very moment the young man was enveloped

in calm and deep peace; things have settled down since then. Indeed in

current history, such tales are frequent and are already flowing into

legend... Now only a few days ago when we went to pick up a book from

Cambridge Library, where my friend saw up a leaflet announcing that Amma

is visiting the UK. The Venue is: Crystal Palace National Sports

Centre, London SE19 2BB The details are: Tuesday 10th October and

Wednesday 11th October: 10 a.m.: Meditation with Amma and Darshan 7.30

p.m.: Spiritual Talk, Meditation, Bhajan and Darshan Thursday 12th

October 2006: 10 a.m.: Meditation with Amma and Darshan 7.00 p.m.:

Spiritual Talk, Puja, Meditation and Devi Puja (until early morning)

There is no charge for attending the function, and the Darshan - an

opportunity to meet Amma and receive a hug from her - is free, as it

has always been. There are opportunities for devotees to make purchases

or support Amma's charities and projects according to circumstances;

devotees who are not able to help in this way are very welcome to help

in practical ways also, as in helping to prepare food and chopping

vegetables. Full details are available on http://www.amma.org.uk

<http://www.amma.org.uk> Much looking forward to meeting members

there for some, or all, of the events! anbudan

 

John

 

Siva...Siva