Guest guest Posted April 6, 2006 Report Share Posted April 6, 2006 Note: forwarded message attached. New Messenger with Voice. Call regular phones from your PC and save big. Ôm Amriteswaryai Namah eVoice:- nº 144 Mata Amritanandamayi Math, Amritapuri, India 15 th March 2006 In this Amritavani Ø- Around Amma: A Lunch-Stop Eye Surgery Ø- Seva: The Colour of Inspiration Ø- Amritapuri Updates - Mothersite Ø- Mahayatra - Itinerary Around Amma A Lunch-Stop Eye Surgery Bharata Yatra 2006 27 February 2006 — Pandarpur, Maharashtra, en route to Pune from Shegaon ajnana timirandhasya jnananjana salakaya cakshurunmeelitam yena tasmai sree gurave namah -- Guru Gita If one approaches a Guru, earnestly seeking to understand the nature of his mind, the Guru's knowledge will flow forth and clarity will come. In fact, the Guru Gita says the words of a True Master are like the instrument of an eye surgeon dipped in the ointment of knowledge. If one wants to remove the cataract of ignorance, all one needs to do is to lie without flinching and allow the surgeon to do his work. On the way from Shegaon to Pune, Amma stopped for lunch in Pandarpur. There, in a field on top of a small hill, one of the devotees travelling with Amma came forth with a question, and a classic surgery took place. " Amma, when we are facing very strong attachment—something we are so identified with that we can't get rid of it—what is the proper attitude? " the man asked. " Should we try to fight to get rid of it? Or is it like a fruit that is not ripe enough to drop and the proper attitude is to wait a little longer until it matures and drops on its own? " Amma said, " If your desire is intense and you try to suppress it, it will only return with more power. Even after we experience once or twice or three times, still the desire will keep coming back, so we shouldn't think that it will be satiated through indulging. " Giving the example of the vasana [tendency] for partnership, Amma said, " Even at the age of 100, it will not go, and even if one gets married, he or she may still become attracted to other people. At some point we must try to cultivate vairagya [dispassion]. " Amma then explained how the bliss, pleasure and sense of satisfaction we get from the various objects and attainments of the world, in fact, comes from within. " If you eat 10 chocolates, the joy you get from the 10th chocolate is not equal to the joy you get from the first, " Amma said. " If the bliss had been in the object, then each piece should have been able to give you the same amount of bliss. But it is not; the bliss is within; the bliss is within the mind. You have to understand the nature of the world and the nature of your mind and from that viveka [discriminative thinking] will arise. At one point, you must draw back. " The man was not satisfied with Amma's answer. In fact, he had a very specific desire in his mind. " What about an attachment that is related to a lifestyle that is supposedly incorrect? " he asked. " I want to do something, and supposedly I want to do it because it is a vasana. I am confused. I don't know what I should do? " " What is it, son? " Amma asked. " Amma, last year I sent you a letter. I told you that I was going to sail my boat from America to India, and this is a plan that I've had for many, many years. And you replied to my letter and you said, 'Don't go.' " Amma's opinion had apparently changed. In English she said, " Okay, you try, you try. " The man however did not accept Amma's reversal of stance so readily: " No, in your letter you said, 'No, don't do it, something's going to happen.' " Amma then explained to him that at that particular time she had felt it was not a good period for him to travel. Then the man made a confession. " Anyway, I was still going to do it, " he said. " I was still going to move the boat a little bit. And somehow I met another master, and he told me the same thing. He said, 'Don't do it! Never! Give it up in this life!' And he said it was linked to a past-life karma, and he told me about the past life in the 15th century and blah blah blah. Amma's response: " Blah blah blah. " All the 400 or so people seated around Amma burst into laughter. And Amma herself was unable to hold back her smile for long. When the laughter died down, Amma asked him how long it would take to sail from America to India. " Between two months and 10 years. " Again, the peaceful hillside erupted in laughter. " Has someone done this before? " Amma asked him. " It's not like just going on a ship; many factors are involved. " The man told Amma that, yes, many people have made similar voyages, adding that he had been living on the sea for the past 20 years. Amma saw a clear shot at the cataract and moved in swiftly. " Even after being on the sea for 20 years, this desire has not been exhausted, " she pointed out. " So maybe you can pray to God, 'In the next life make me a dolphin!' " Explosion of laughter. Amma continued: " If you don't fear death, if you have the strength to face any circumstance, then no problem. But you should study about the different obstacles you may face when crossing into the territorial waters of various countries. In some places, if you don't have the proper papers, they may put you in jail. You have to study all the different aspects, and then if the desire is still there you can go. " The man was confused. " So Amma is saying that the vasana may finish by doing it? " Again came the laughter, but the man protested. " No, because the point is to get rid of the vasana. That's what I want. " Seeing his earnest desire for help, Amma's compassion flowed forth: " No. By fulfilling a vasana, it can never be exhausted. The dispassion that results is only smashana vairagya [cremation-ground dispassion]—like when one's beloved wife dies, he may say I am never going to remarry, but within six months he marries again. " Amma then told the man that if his desire was really strong though, it was okay, he could make the trip. But Amma did wonder what he thought was so special about the voyage. She asked him as much, and he confessed that, in fact, he did not know. Amma then told him that during the journey he should constantly watch his mind and reflect. She told him to break the trip into legs, and then to do one section and see how his mind was reacting. Similarly, the second leg and third leg. " Each time you finish one leg, watch the mind. See if the desire to continue still persists. If you want to continue, go ahead. But after you've finished the third leg, if the desire still remains, you should realize that it is never going to go. At that point, please stop. " It was striking advice that clearly could be applied to many desire-driven activities outside of sailing. Still, the man had one final question: " Wouldn't it be better to just pray about it, rather than experience it? " " The goal should be very clear, " Amma said. " You should have an intense desire within you for transformation. You shouldn't be like the man who drives his car into a ditch and then takes out his asana [meditation cushion] and starts praying, 'O Almighty Lord, please get my car out of this ditch.' Your prayer should not be like that. You should actually try to push the vehicle out of the ditch as you pray. " To conclude, Amma made perhaps the most penetrating comment of the afternoon: " The effort you are putting forth for the voyage could be better utilized for helping the poor—buying them food, clothing and looking after their education. Look and see if your desire to sail isn't just the naughtiness of the mind. " As they walked back to the buses, many of Amma's children were talking about the conversation. Amma—the True Master that she is—had not only clarified the man's doubts, she had also triggered the general inquiry: " How many similar 'voyages by sea' do I have in my life? " —Sakshi -------------- Seva The Colour of Inspiration 6 March 2006 — Pandagasalai Village, Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu For the seventh time since 1998, members of Japan's International Volunteer University Student Association (IVUSA) are participating in the Amrita Kuteeram house-building project {news}. This year more than 80 such students have traveled to Nagapattinam to help build tsunami-relief housing in the villages of Pandagasalai, Akkarapettai and Mele Pattinacherry. There are many familiar faces in this year’s group, as many students have participated two or three years in a row. But there is one new face in the crowd that is hard to overlook. Due to birth complications, 22-year-old Taka Aki was afflicted with a severe case of cerebral paralysis. Intellectually he is just like any other university student, but he has very limited control over his muscles and is thus constrained to a wheelchair and has difficulty even speaking. Taka Aki has longed to participate in Amrita Kuteeram since first meeting Amma in Tokyo in 2003. He has come to see Amma in Tokyo every year since and has been active with IVUSA throughout the year. But due to his condition, traveling to India always seemed unrealistic to him. In hi-tech Tokyo, he moves about freely using a motorized wheelchair and communicates via computer. But if he came to India he knew he would have to leave these supports behind, and he did not want to be a burden for others. For two years, Taka Aki told himself that traveling to India was simply not in the cards. However when faced with the fact that this year would be his last at the university, he decided he had to try. This year, the students’ flight from Japan arrived in Mumbai on the night of Amma’s program at Shivaji Park {photo-news} . They all thus we able to have Amma’s darshan before traveling on to Nagapattinam. When Taka Aki was carried up to Amma for his darshan, Amma was both surprised and delighted to see him. {photo-news} The first day in Nagapattinam was no different than any other at a construction site in India—extremely hot with lots of heavy manual labor. There was nothing that Taka Aki could do. His wheelchair even got a flat tire and he had to be pushed and carried along the dirt roads and over the thorny bushes. He simply sat in the shade, watching everyone else and longing for an opportunity to serve. Then the next day someone suggested that maybe he could paint. He was thrilled by the idea and immediately agreed to try. Soon, a few people carried him onto a scaffolding, taped a paintbrush in his hand (he is unable to grip things), and he was ready to go. Someone guided his hand into the paint bucket and then, with great effort, he moved the brush back and forth along the wall. Paint was flying everywhere, spraying anyone within range, but no one seemed to mind or even moved out of the way. The scene was too inspiring to leave. A small crowd began to gather, and tears came to many people's eyes. One of the site supervisors was visibly touched and, with his hands over his heart, said, ‘This is real service.’ Taka Aki spent the next several hours painting. Every so often the scaffolding would be shifted so that he could reach another section, and different people took turns supporting him on the scaffolding and helping him to dip his brush. Throughout the day the other students continually shouted encouragement, some joking with love that he had painted himself as much as the house. By the time the sun began to set, the house had been transformed from the lifeless gray of cement to the inspiring pink of the horizon. —Dass -------------- Mothersite Amritapuri.org Updates Bang a Drum for the Whole World To Hear Amdavad -Photos Tsunami photo update A Dance for Devi, A Dance for Krishna: Surat Welcomes Amma 11 Photos from Surat Grace Along That Lost Highway Nerul, Mumbai - 57 Photos A Night at Gajanan Maharaj Temple Amma in Mumbai: A City With Many Sides -------------- Mahayatra Itinerary of Amma New Delhi March 16, Jawharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Delhi brahmasthanam March 18 & 19, M. A. M, Sector D-III, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. Lucknow March 22, CSI Lawns, (opp. Eldico Green), Vinay Khand, Gomti Nagar. Ranchi March 25, Zila School Ground, Shahid Chowk. Kolkatta March 27, Nazrul Manch, Southern Kolkata March 28, M.A.M, Budge Budge Road, Near 13 A bus terminus, Kolkata. Australia March 31 eve - Perth April 1 & 2 - Perth April 4 & 5 - Melbourne April 6, 7, 8 - Kyneton Retreat April 10 & 11 - Sydney April 13 - Brisbane April 14, 15, 16 - Gold Coast Retreat For details of all other programmes, please visit Mahayatra -------------- Ôm Namah Shivaya eDharma Mothersite Copyright © MAM ModifySubscription Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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