12 feb 2010, talassery – bharata yatra
whenever i travel, especially with amma, i am reminded of what amma said about yatra. she says that when the mind is on the ride, we are traveling. if not, then we are not, even if the body is moving. such a person’s mind is centered in the self..
the bharata yatra of 2010 has started with the programs in talassery, one of the northern districts of kerala. amma has been coming to talassery for a long time. i still remember one of the earlier programs that happened at the sree rama temple. it might have been in late eighties. the crowd was sooooo big, the temple compound was overflowing with people who came to meet amma for the first time. at that time amma was not giving satsangs, only bhajans. bhajan would last nearly 3 hours and the darshan would start afterwards. for the morning programs there will be ‘vilakku puja.’ amma would lead the devotees in step by step of the puja to the lamp lit in front of them. it was always very nice to watch them all sitting in line and chanting the 1000 names of devi as devi herself lead the chant. one or two bhajans will be there at the conclusion of the program. that 3 hours program was also fantastic, which will take you beyond this world.
this year in talassery we were staying in a room next to amma’s. there are about 30 brahmacharis in the hall and only one bathroom on that floor. so the toilet was busy through out. everyone was given 3 minutes to 5 minutes to finish their cleaning activites. when the time is over the person waiting will knock at the door. always there is a que. and the interesting thing is you see brahmacharis doing some yoga, chanting mantra, meditating, even studying mandookya upanishad while they wait for the toilet. time is precious. as amma says time lost cannot be retrieved. money lost can be recovered. so without wasting time try to realise god.
living with amma gives more opportunities to practice what amma teaches.
now we are on the way to mangalore…