The Beginning of a New Passion

During the last week of June 2011, I had a series of eye-opening experiences. As the week came to a close, I realized I also had a new direction in my life, the beginning of a new service project. How this project came about seemed almost mystical to me.

Some background first. Amma* has asked us for years to chant the Sri Lalitha Sahasranama** (also called archana) daily. While I have not been consistent in my chanting, I have had numerous powerful experiences when I have followed her direction to chant it daily. This was one of those times.

My normal practice is to read/chant the text while walking. I generally take one of four routes so that I know the terrain and can be focusing on the chant rather than my feet! This is what unfolded during those seven days in June 2011:

Day 1

I chanted the archana while walking the perimeter of the play yard in a grade school that is a block from my house. After reciting the first 850 lines, I started walking back home. A minute or two after leaving the school yard, I looked down at my feet and saw I was walking through an area of the sidewalk that was full of dog poop. I felt very irritated that the dog owner hadn’t cleaned it up and worried that I had stepped in the poop either coming or going from the play yard. Scowling, I continued on with the archana. Continue reading “The Beginning of a New Passion” →

On the Way Home

A friend agreed to take something to India for my daughter so I took the light rail to the airport to give it to her. As I walked up the hill on my way back home, this plant and it’s visitor caught my eye!

Light One Small Lamp

Photo Credit: Amma Facebook Page, March 30, 2014

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My 100th Post!

My last post, the one about Al’s Bucket List trip, was my 100th post!

I created this blog the beginning of March 2014. It has been quite a journey and I’ve loved every minute of it. Thank you Sreejit for encouraging me to start it!

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Al’s Bucket List Trip

Sreejit (my son), Chaitanya (my daughter) and Akshay (Chaitanya’s husband) came to the U.S. this summer to visit family, work and be part of Amma’s North American tour staff. Usually, they return to India immediately after the tour but this year their dad (my ex-husband) asked them to take him on a trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. It was a trip that Al, Sreejit and I had taken in 1976. Sreejit was still in a backpack at that time. This particular trip was an important part of Al’s “Bucket List” and he wanted all of us, including me, to participate.

Sreejit, Chaitanya and Akshay picked up their dad the day after they returned from Amma’s tour and they headed to Yellowstone. I joined them in the Tetons two days later.

The Grand Tetons were exquisite. Their beauty was muted by smoke from the fires in Washington, Oregon and California but they were still majestic. It was easy to imagine what they would look like in their full glory.

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We had a wonderful trip and many experiences. Most important to me though was the time we spent together.!

Photo credit: Sreejit Poole

Al and Karuna

As we drove through Yellowstone on our way back to Seattle, we had two last surprises. After we passed this particular deer, we discovered there was another adult deer and three youngsters behind the trees. The young deer were playing; running away from their parents, through the forest and then back to their parents again, all at top speed! It was so much fun to watch them. And clearly being that close to the bison was amazing.

I’m so glad that Al brought us all together in this way. It is a memory that will last a lifetime for each of us.

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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

I recently went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. That movie touched my heart SO much. There were so many scenes that I will remember for a very long time, and I usually don’t remember the content of movies even the day after I see them.

I decided to post about it because I assume it is a movie that a lot of people would never consider seeing. Most of the trailers showed the war part of the movie but not the heart. I just found a trailer that at least shows glimpses of the heart portions.

I wish they had chosen another picture to put on the front of the trailer. I sure would have.

Yes there is violence in this movie. But there is so much heart and many lessons about life and living as well. I was teary for many hours after I saw it, and not many of my tears were from sadness.

Tears of the Prophets

I read this poem for the first time today. It really spoke to me. In these days of war and unrest I think God cries for all of his/her children, regardless of nationality, religion, race or any of the other ways we subdivide ourselves and create a sense of otherness. Thank you for writing and posting the poem Paul.

Poesy plus Polemics

(Originally posted here April 2013)

Illustration from bongoisme.com

Jerusalem shudders
Her ancient stones bleed
From perpetual combat
Among three great creeds
Whose branches give forth
Each a different hued fruit
Yet all stem precisely
From one selfsame root

Abraham cries against hatred
Christ cries for wars still begun
Mohammed cries at injustice
My God cries for all three His sons

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Container of Memories

The Daily Post Photo Challenge for this week is:

Boxes, tanks, wrappers: for this week’s Photo Challenge, show us something that contains something else.

As I pondered what I might use to meet the challenge, I remembered a container of objects that I keep on the top shelf in one of my rooms. I hadn’t looked in it for years.

When I opened it and spread everything out, I was struck by how many of my life stories this container contains!