Guest guest Posted December 29, 2004 Report Share Posted December 29, 2004 Divine Yoga Family: Namaskaram! “Life is a long, long dream” so the Yogic Rishis taught us. The world of our senses is unreal, in the perspective of its impermanence. Everything is in flux, nothing is stable. The Rishis also compared the fragility of the life experience, to a drop of water glistening on a lotus leaf, or a bubble floating in the air. Only Sat – Eternal Reality – is permanent, unchangeable, solid. All else is but a mirage, a phantom in the night. The instability of earthly existence was very much hammered home again to us here in Pondicherry on the morning of Sunday, December 26th, from 8:30 am and afterward when almost literally, “the world turned upside down” for tens of thousands of people. For us, the day was a special day. It was the Full Moon of Margazhi, that time of year on December 29, 1993, when Swamiji departed his earth form to merge in Cosmic Substance! We rose early to perform the traditional Abhishekams for his Guru Puja Samadhi and that of Sri Kambliswamigal. I was performing the Pujas while Ananda left ICYER by about 8:15 am to bring the Prasadam for the Puja, as well as to then go on to City Centre to conduct the Fancy Dress and Quiz sections of the Swami Gitananda Best Youth and Child Yoga Competition for about 100 students. We finished our Pujas about 10:30 am and I went to the City Centre to witness the competitions. There I received the shocking news that there had been some problems on the seacoast near ICYER and agitated fishermen were blocking the roads. Devasena was supposed to come later by car with Dhivya and she had not arrived yet. About 11:30 am Kumar, our Manager, arrived with car and Devasena and Dhivya and gave us the full story. There had been huge tidal waves wash up against the shore and the huts located on the beach had been swept away. Many boats were also damaged. At first we thought it was a local event, but the news started to trickle in, that the entire eastern coast of India had been “swamped” with thousands of people washed away. Mostly these were fisher people who had built their huts of palm leaves right on the ocean shore. The tidal wave, a Tsunami, had originated in Indonesia from an earthquake of 8.9 intensity. The entire day was tense, with people on the streets, from the coastal fishing villages, not knowing what to do. We had no choice but to finish our competition and conduct the Eleventh Annual Guru Puja Purnima Samadhi that evening by 6;00 pm in the Madam. Actually Pondicherry town itself was not affected at all, and all business and daily life work went on normally. We brought the fourteen students of the Six Month Course from ICYER to the Madam by 6:00 pm for the evening Puja as by that time things had settled down and the crowds had left the streets. There was no major problem and life was going as normally. Despite all the upheaval, the Puja was beautiful in every way with the Madam decorated with colored lights, 1008 oil lamps and glorious floral arrangements for both Kambliswamy and Swamiji. About 40 young students of our Yoganjali Natyalayam Institute sang classical Carnatic songs seated on a specially conducted stage. Our International Bhajan Group sang wonderfully and several hundred persons enjoyed their performance. This was our way of thanking Swamiji who surely was responsible for preventing further damage in his beloved Pondicherry and ICYER. After Aarthi and procession through the Madam, all Sat for the very tasty Prasadam. We concluded the Puja by 10:00 pm and I sent all the students back to ICYER. We really did not know what we would find there, as neither Ananda nor myself had been there since the tidal waves struck. By the time I “locked up” and cleared up” the Madam it was mid night and I rode through deserted streets in which life was very normal. Everything was quiet on Mettu Street, though about fifty people were sleeping on the street side with belongings in a pile beside them. These were people whose huts had collapsed. There was no problem or agitation otherwise. Government announced they would give each person whose hut had collapsed enough money to rebuild along with some extra money. So everyone was calm. Actually, the huts do get washed away periodically by high waves, but usually after a high wind. This “tidal wave’ was a totally new experience and no one was prepared for it. Luckily no lives were lost in our village. Next morning Monday December 27th we had to leave the Ashram early for a dance programme at a Central Government Sanskrit Conference in Kanchipuram about four hours drive. We had an excellent programme with a very sensitive, intelligent audience. Due to the circumstances, we returned home after midnight that evening. During the afternoon I had picked up several newspapers and got caught up on the devastating news that nearly 50,000 persons all over South East Asia had lost their lives. The water in India swept mainly through seashore and caught those on the beach unawares. Most of the casualties were fisher people sleeping on the beach – Cities were not flooded or engulfed with water and as usual the media sensationalized and exaggerated everything for their own reasons. Pondy town itself was not at all affected and daily life was completely normal. No one has any cause to worry about us at all. Guru is there. He protects us and gives us the experiences we need to grow spiritually. We feel that our daily Surya Namaskars, our daily Aarthi, our daily Shanti Mantras have protected us and our village from harm. Devasena has remarked that she felt our offering of the dance drama Pancha Maha Bhutas or “Praise to the Five Elements” this summer also protected us. The offering of the sacred dance drama Pancha Mahabhutas may have pacified Nature’s fury at least to some extent. This was a prayerful offering to the Five Elements and gave some psychic protection to our area. Our Ashram and ICYER was totally not affected at all. Even our electrical current did not go out. Seven of our students had planned to go for a swim that morning in the ocean. But, something stopped them at the last moment and they were safe in the Ashram when the tidal wave struck. Life is a dream, a mirage. We never know from one moment to the next, what will transpire in our lives. We are grateful to Guru for protecting us so well. We feel sorry that so many lost their lives and pray that their spirits evolve through this experience into higher realms. We will be helping our village when we assess the best way to offer assistance. Each night before we sleep, we must bend our heads and thank the Gurus for the precious gift of life. Each day we must rise full of thanksgiving that another day has come in which to evolve our spirit. God is Great! Guru is Great! Nature is Great! We bow our heads and accept whatever the Lord wishes to give us! Not our will – but His / Hers / Its Will be done! Ishwara Pranidhana, the most potent of the Five Niyamas, is the raft, which will carry us across the Samsaric Ocean, even an ocean full of Tsunami! Yours in Yoga, AMMA Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER 25,2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry-605 013 Tel: 0413 - 2622902 / 0413 -2241561 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities.com/yognat2001/i_am_here Mail - You care about security. So do we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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