Saturday the 29th, 2009 Reflection from the trip to Amritapuri and the Hugging Amma….Laura from TX
Well friends, I find that nine hours on the bus gives you plenty of time for observations and reflection on the passing countryside and I find that India is a country with many juxtapositions……. women in gold threaded saris sweeping the dirt with a bundle of twigs…countryside littered with plastic garbage beside neatly kept houses……the apparent chaos of bicycles, autos, rickshaws and trucks sharing the same roadway with the calm demeanor of the millions of people living in this seeming chaos…..internet cafes in a country that has only intermittent power, because they can’t produce enough to go around……a herd of sacred cows driven through town to the watering hole beside a marriage billboard with pictures of the bride and groom ….and a road sign that says:….inpatient in the hospital, patient on the road! It is a country of many contradictions and yet the patience to deal with these contradictions with grace.
Our arrival at the Ashram was done in a fog….we were hot, tired and completely out of our element. … surrounded by hundreds of people from all over the world, wearing white, chatting quietly while chanting poured from loud speakers... We sat under a tree trying to acclimate ourselves to what was happening around us….and feeling the intense heat and humidity of the day. But who was this Amma we were about to see? We learned that she is a spiritual leader who not only travels the world giving blessings in the way of hugs, but that she heads a vast organization that provides assistance following national disasters around the world and assistance to the poverty stricken in her own country. Her religion is love and her mission is to uplift ailing humanity…..teaching compassion, truth and love throughout the world…..wow, I was ready for the blessing! People wait hours to see the Amma and we were ushered right up to the front of the line because we were visitors! Each of us experienced the darshan in a different way, but I can say it was an honor to be in the presence of a woman who has committed her life to the life of others and who is venerated by soo many devotees. A sign summed it up for me…… ”In this age of selfishness, selfless service is the only soap that purifies!” I have much to learn yet from Ammaa……………..Laura from TEXAS