Om Namah Shivaya,
We are now two weeks into our time here at the Ashram. A routine is definitely setting in and I am starting to understand the rhythms of the ashram a bit more. I've had the very good fortune to be taken on a more extensive tour of the ashram by one of the renunciates named Kamala. The ashram has grown so much since we were here last in 2007. They are adding several new residence buildings as more and more people want to live here at the ashram. It's an interesting process about "buying" a residence here......very different that what Westerners are used to. From what I understand, it's kind of a combination of time share model (unless you live here permanently) mixed with eminent domain. In that you have use of the flat when you are here at the ashram--notifying them well ahead of the time of your arrival, but when not staying here, the flat is available for the ashram to assign to others to use as determined by the ashram. And if you are here and staying in your flat but the ashram needs to house a lot of visitors (sometimes they have 10's of thousands of people visiting for certain festivals or events), they have the right to place people in your flat with you. You may have noticed all the locking cabinets in the pictures I sent of the flat we are staying in. This is the reason for such a need. So much opportunity to practice detachment and acceptance! Some people really fix up their flats quite comfortably and a few are right on the beach and really do have amazing views looking directly out to the Arabian Sea (these are rare and long time permanent devotees and residents have them).
What used to be a big pond area is now completely filled in and is a very small pasture for about 5 cows (and a soon to be calf) that are direct descendants of the ancient cows during Krishna's life. Supposedly there are only 60 cows left from that time (about 5000 years ago--Krishna was believed to have been born in approximately 3000BC). The smaller sized cows get a lot of attention and affection from the ashram residents and visitors. As you might imagine, the kids here just love them. I also was shown the five "regular" milking cows and cow barn. There are two adorable calfs there, a golden brown one and a black and white one. The milk from these cows is used, when Amma is in the ashram, for the special Indian tea that is made here daily called Chai (it's delicious and has a good caffeine kick to it). When she is away from the ashram touring in India (or wherever in the world) there are significantly less people staying at the ashram. During those times, there is enough milk to be had for all the remaining residents and the few visitors here. They do pasteurize the milk rather than drinking it raw. Growing Tulsi basil is another growing (literally) cottage project here. They are cultivating more and more of it for it's tea, medicinal, and bead making properties (the beads are for wrist and neck malas (sacred bracelets and necklaces)). Amma would also like for those affiliated with the ashram to grow enough rice and vegetables so that the ashram is self supporting for those food items. Kamala was telling me that is such a huge project because sometimes the ashram prepares food for 20,000 people for one day and Indian's really like their rice. On a smaller scale they have started to do some roof top gardening of vegetables and have a few small gardens scattered around the ashram grounds. They are also starting to cultivate garden area for some fruit trees. The two elephants that used to live on the ashram are now living over on the University side of the mainland because they have a lot more room to roam and are much happier there. I am hoping that we will be able to take a walk there soon and visit them. She also walked me through some of the village that directly adjoins the ashram property. Given the extreme rural location of the ashram, the villagers live in makeshift huts, have no indoor plumbing or electricity and situate their outhouses cantilevered over the backwaters. Because of the vast cultural differences in language, customs, and culture, visitors to the ashram are discouraged from wandering through the village and mixing with the villagers. Often times, Westerners think they are being generous in "helping" the villagers but more times than not the villagers are being opportunists with who they believe to be "rich" Westerners which often leads to significant misunderstandings and difficulties.
Two of the more interesting projects that are new is 1) the chocolate making "factory" which is up in a large room in the Ayurvedivc Wellness Clinic (a clinic dedicated to Eastern Medicine practices). We had some last week that was quite good--dark chocolate and coconut. Right now, it is mostly just sold here at the ashram and whenever Amma is on tour--it is sold in the tour program gift shop. and 2) Wig making......Amma heard about the Locks for Love program in the US which collects hair and makes wigs for cancer patients. With so many female renunciates in the ashram she asked them to cut their hair and donate it to this project. It's just getting started and they sent an older renunciate to a wig making program in the larger city of Madras, India to learn to do this. So once this project gets up and going, there will be an opportunity for very poor cancer patients in India to be given a wig if they want. One of the challenges is that most Indian women have very long hair and so will want a wig of very long hair, which is hard to come by.
I was able to witness two very sacred ceremonies a couple of nights ago: A homa and a puja. Both are very involved in ritual for prayer and chants expressed, special items used (eg, flowers, ghee, incense, wood, water, special containers) performed by a bramachari (Indian "priest"), and done with very specific intentions. The homa involves the use of fire built in a small specially decorated pit. Having grown up a Catholic, I am used to a fair amount of ritual as with the mass, but this makes the mass pale in comparison. Both are quite beautiful, especially the puja which has more chanting, flowers, and a small flame. At the end of the ritual, blessed water is placed in your cupped hand to drink followed by a dollop of blessed rice pudding also placed in your palm. An interesting variation of the wine and host offered at the end of the Catholic mass.
I've talked to a few Western people who are living here or other Amma-related ashrams for very long times (10 to 20 years and going strong). For those I've talked with, the decision to do this was so clear and resolute for them. I am no doubt talking to a select sample as they are still very engaged and happy with their decision and their lives in the ashram; there are likely others who tried it and left but alas I won't be talking with those folks--at least not on this trip. It is really hard for me to get my head around just how seemingly easy and straightforward the decision was/is for them. How they are clear that all they want is just to be around Amma and live within a community that works to exemplify her teachings of love, caring for all living beings and the earth, spiritual awakening and enlightenment. I guess one way to think about it is that it is akin to being so loving of Christ that if Christ came to earth and said you could live with Him would you drop everything to move half way around the world to be guided directly by him, living in a cultural and community setting vastly different than what you are used to--all because you wanted so much to only experience your life near him. I think to some extent that is what nuns and monks do within a Christian religious tradition but scale it up by several thousand more people (including married celibate couples and children (before they were celibate!)) than what is traditionally found in monasteries and convents. I am learning quickly that I am definitely falling into the camp of what is called " a householder" though I did have a romantic flirtation with being a nun in middle school until the hormones kicked into full gear. A householder is a person who is devoted to the teachings of Amma but not committed to living within the more insular ashram community. I honestly don't believe it is a question of how deep a devotion you have as to whether you live in the ashram or not. I think it has much more to do with what you think you need to grow spiritually. Some people need the proximity to Her and get so much out of it--and no doubt being here supports far more spiritual practice. Others can carry Her internally and just need to enact a higher level of discipline to doing their daily sadhana (spiritual practices and living by her teachings). I am grateful for this life experience of being here to gain better clarity on what my path is. I think in the past I have confused the idea of spiritual surrender with leaving everything behind. Intellectually, I know that is the not the only path but it felt that true devotion required that. Now I know intuitively that is not so. Now it is really about the commitment of exacting the necessary discipline for spiritual practice in the face of so much Western distraction. Before coming here, it was so hard for me to do my daily 75 minutes of morning meditation, chanting, prayers, and singing as I am so easily distracted by getting on the internet to read email or reading the paper or eating, getting the laundry done, etc), here the morning sadhana of 2 1/2 plus hours goes very quickly because none of those distractions are available in our flat and there are very set times to be in the temple for the morning chanting. How to translate that when I get back to NYC will be the challenge, and if I can do it, then no doubt I will have grown spiritually from having been here. Detachment from those distractions first thing is the morning and prioritizing my sadhana will be my goal. Bob is already amazingly good at doing that. I really need to use him more as a role model than I do now.
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