This morning I realized that my new white bag, which was a gift from Charanbir, was getting moldy. It”s on the hooks where the towels are. It’s humid outside and inside. I will leave the fans on now when I go out. Here are two fans, one in each room. I enjoyed my breakfast at Satyhya’s again. Jonatan came in. After breakfast, I gave him a lift to Jnana Ganga Mandiram for Satsang.
I got a plastic bag with waste and some empty plastic bottles with me. I never knew what to do with it. On the way there is a big empty field and people are dumping their waste there. When we got there, there was just a tractor with some people collecting the waste, I just gave it to them.
Across Tiruvannamalai there is a buzz of workers and activities preparing for Deepam: painting, cleaning, sweeping, and building stalls. There is blue sky, and big white clouds but the weather is still cool. Today Amma enters and with eyes down moves swiftly to her chair.
The room rests in silence for 25 minutes.
A question from an attendee: The world we see is processed only through this conditioned mind. What if we were raised with more accurate or truthful conditioning about the world, for example, that chair is just swirling atoms and light?
Amma: While we can have conditioning that is closer to truth, we are still talking about an illusion. The jnanam is experiential knowledge seeing the truth as truth, and not as intellectual information. This is the difference, the ignorance is not there.
An attendee nearby then shares about a remote indigenous tribe who raised children in such a manner. Another attendee questions whether we could produce children who can mature without duality.
Amma confirms it is possible to raise children closer to the truth. She mentions Madalasa who raised children from birth with vedic teachings, singing the lullaby, Thou art eternal, ever pure and without blemish (“nithyosi, shuddosi, niranjanisi”). Amma says Madalasa* herself was a jnani and all her children became enlightened.
Then a question: Amma, is it better to treat children well, with an open heart? Will it help with realization?
Amma: Treating children bad or good has nothing to do with realization. Opening up is not an external action, it is happening within you. When that happens, it opens up to everything not just children.
There is a short break in questions.
An attendee says to Amma: I arrived in Tiruvannamalai three days ago. I understand Ramana’s teaching that there is no world, and that the Self alone exists. Yet when I walk the streets I see people facing so much hardship and need. I feel compelled to give.
With compassion, Amma says: When you truly see that the world is within you, everything becomes a service to yourself. When you give, you are giving to yourself. When there is no ignorance, only love is there, the love is full and complete. This is realization. When there is no separation, your existence is enough to lift up the world.
Towards the closing of the satsang a question from the floor about obedience.
Amma replies gently to the woman: Obedience is only possible when there is trust and faith. Without these qualities, there is no obedience. If there is any fear or punishment, the response cannot be obedience.
The final five minutes return to silence, then Amma says okay.
Blessings from Tiruvannamalai to all.
*Queen Madalasa was a brahmvadini and yogini. She kept the company of sages and saints, learning Vedantic thought from them and eventually gaining enlightenment. She and King KuvalayAswa (also called Ritadhwaja) had four children. With the first three children, Queen Madalasa introduced the Vedantic teachings of “Atma Vidya” from the very moment of their birth.
As she would rock the cradle to calm the crying babies, she would sing a lullaby reminding the babies that they are the Immortal soul, the Pure Consciousness.
O my infant! Don’t cry. Thou art ever pure and are nameless and formless.
The sorrow is related to your physical body which is made up of five gross elements.
Thou art beyond these ephemeral, imaginary forms.
Thou are That!
So, don’t cry.
After Satsang Joantan and myself were driving to The Inner Child Restaurant. I was never there before. It’s on the roof of a building, many steps to take, a nice place with a beautiful view of Arunachala hill. I had a refreshing orange juice and we were talking a lot about our spiritual lives. I am lucky to meet people here who are on my lineage.
Back home, I didn’t go out for lunch today, working a bit on some piece of software. After my afternoon nap, my scooter brought me into town. I had a chai and went into the Ashram then. It was time for meditating a while, and then I went for dinner. In front of the dining hall, I met Michael again, the guy from California. We had dinner and then had a walk to the Inner Child Restaurant. We had just been there before 20:00. They were closing early, but it was still time to get a drink. Ginger-Lemon tea with honey is always a good option. Tomorrow we will meet again. I will pick him up for evening Satsang, then we will have dinner at Usha Restaurant.
Michael will leave on Saturday by taxi to Chennai, then flying to Kerala.
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