I will be posting a bit right at first, so that you can have a sense of the setting from which I am writing. I have no idea how regular my posts will be as things really get going here. Amma arrived last night, and there is a definite change in the atmosphere here.
Continued from 11/30 about the birds...
Each evening at dusk a massive number of birds descend on the ashram to roost in the trees in the grove by my flat. I can see it all from my window. There are the usual crows and doves, but now also white cranes. And they make quite a racket - even during the night. Things are quiet, then something startles them and they commence a chatter for a minute or two and then fall silent again. Thank heavens for ear plugs!
One of the best things so far is running into several people we know either from Seattle or Amma's US tour or from when we were here at the ashram seven years ago.. This has made Clarice and I quite welcome, as we are both feeling a little overwhelmed as we comment to each other how we have aged over seven years! But we know that we are just at the beginning of a very demanding and strenuous stay here.
Day 2, 11/30
Archana chanting in the temple at 10 AM: This was an extra archana chant (reciting the 1,000 names or attributes of the Divine Mother). Someone said that its purpose was specifically for peace. Since I neither have the words before me nor am able to stumble through the Sanscript fast enough to keep up, I don't even try. But soon the Prayer of the Spirit is flowing, and there is a strong inner response of the Spirit praying within (Romans 8:26-27).
Seva - (Selfless Service) our volunteer job assignments
We checked in at the seva office for our volunteer work assignments and were given a choice between the usual veggie chopping and a new seva at the new recycle center at the beach. I knew immediately that the recycle seva would be the choice. The seva manager told us that this involved sorting the garbage that the ashram residents and visiters put in the various bins, picking out what got put in the wrong bins and doing further sorting. All of this is to handle the garbage in such a way that everything is reused and only a small amount burned. This is being done at the ashram as a professional model for India for other communities to copy because there are no businesses that deal with recycling in India yet. Here at the ashram 90% of the garbage can be sorted, packaged and sold for recycling or reused in the ashram or composted. Only 10% cannot be used.
As long as a year ago when I first started planning the sabbatical and Karuna Poole was beginning the litter pick-up project in Seattle, I felt an internal repulsion at the thought of handling other people's garbage. So stayed tuned to the next post for the rest of the story.
Continued from 11/30 about the birds...
Each evening at dusk a massive number of birds descend on the ashram to roost in the trees in the grove by my flat. I can see it all from my window. There are the usual crows and doves, but now also white cranes. And they make quite a racket - even during the night. Things are quiet, then something startles them and they commence a chatter for a minute or two and then fall silent again. Thank heavens for ear plugs!
One of the best things so far is running into several people we know either from Seattle or Amma's US tour or from when we were here at the ashram seven years ago.. This has made Clarice and I quite welcome, as we are both feeling a little overwhelmed as we comment to each other how we have aged over seven years! But we know that we are just at the beginning of a very demanding and strenuous stay here.
Day 2, 11/30
Archana chanting in the temple at 10 AM: This was an extra archana chant (reciting the 1,000 names or attributes of the Divine Mother). Someone said that its purpose was specifically for peace. Since I neither have the words before me nor am able to stumble through the Sanscript fast enough to keep up, I don't even try. But soon the Prayer of the Spirit is flowing, and there is a strong inner response of the Spirit praying within (Romans 8:26-27).
Seva - (Selfless Service) our volunteer job assignments
We checked in at the seva office for our volunteer work assignments and were given a choice between the usual veggie chopping and a new seva at the new recycle center at the beach. I knew immediately that the recycle seva would be the choice. The seva manager told us that this involved sorting the garbage that the ashram residents and visiters put in the various bins, picking out what got put in the wrong bins and doing further sorting. All of this is to handle the garbage in such a way that everything is reused and only a small amount burned. This is being done at the ashram as a professional model for India for other communities to copy because there are no businesses that deal with recycling in India yet. Here at the ashram 90% of the garbage can be sorted, packaged and sold for recycling or reused in the ashram or composted. Only 10% cannot be used.
As long as a year ago when I first started planning the sabbatical and Karuna Poole was beginning the litter pick-up project in Seattle, I felt an internal repulsion at the thought of handling other people's garbage. So stayed tuned to the next post for the rest of the story.
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