| As the sun sank beneath the horizon, Amma asked Her children
to discuss the qualities necessary for a devotee of the Lord
and for spiritual aspirants in general. Then She elaborated
on the need for the control of food, sleep, the importance
of seva and chanting the Divine Name. After the satsang She
sang two new bhajans and asked Her children to tell jokes
and stories before returning to the road. But this synopsis
does not do justice to the magic of the evening—unfolding
around Amma were some beautiful illustrations of the truths
expressed in Her satsang.
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By the time Amma sat down, it was nearly dark. Many
of us took turns holding lamps in the air so that everyone
could see Amma under the stars. But like moths to a
flame—and like us two-legged moths to the Light
that is Amma—all the bugs of the countryside flocked
to the lamps. Whoever happened to be holding one, and
for that matter whoever was within a meter of that person,
found themselves covered in bugs from head to toe! |
As Amma and Her children discussed, among other things, the
importance of detachment one brahmachari stood with a lamp
in each hand for over an hour, seemingly blissfully ignorant
of the swarm of bugs around him. But such an opportunity—to
serve as the candle to light the face of the Guru, simultaneously
draw the insects away from one’s beloved Amma, and finally
to practice detachment under trying circumstances, could only
be a gift from God.
Then, just after Amma and Her children were discussing the
importance of the control of food, and discrimination between
the Real and the unreal, the Permanent and the impermanent,
Amma encouraged everyone to go and take chai. But to get chai
meant to walk away from Amma while She was singing new bhajans,
a rare and intimate moment with the Master. What was one to
do? It had been a long day’s journey and a warm cup of
chai in the chilly night air sounded good. But what of Amma’s
warmth? What about the Permanent sweetness right in front
of us? Some went for chai and returned. Some stayed with Amma
without an apparent second thought. Some of us, myself included,
failed the test completely: staying with Amma while thinking
about drinking chai!
One more lesson (perhaps one of many… these are only
the three that I happened to catch) was in store for the tour
group before resuming the journey. After Amma got up from
her seat everyone crowded around the car, hoping for a smile,
a touch, a last glimpse. But instead of getting into the car,
Amma insisted that She was going to walk back to the road.
All two kilometres of it. Some tried to talk Her out of it,
both at the start and en route, but Amma had apparently made
up Her mind to make the trek. Along the way Amma was asking
how to say different words in English, like "stones"
and "thorns" and then shouting warnings when She
spotted obstacles along the path: "Children, be very
careful! Stones! Thorns!" At one particularly rough point
She took a lamp from someone who had been shining it near
Her feet and held it high in the air, illuminating the way
ahead and asking Her children to go forward, Herself staying
behind till the last children had caught up.
After Amma was inside Her trailer at the top of the hill,
it occurred to me that the walk was a beautiful illustration
of the way Amma is leading all of Her children along the spiritual
path, warning us when obstacles arise, illuminating the path
ahead, by Her presence lending sweetness to the journey.
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