The beach has a peace of its own and is a healing presence for me. Yesterday in the late afternoon the bell rang three times which means that Amma is about to appear. We follow the crowd and end up on the beach. There Amma is surrounded by several hundred.
But back to the story about recycling on the beach -
After noting the peace that drew me there on the beach, I talked with the manager of the recycle center and got a few more details about the work and the model they were using. This is really a national prototype for what they hope the whole country will use.
So I will see how I do with this tomorrow morning (Saturday). I could say that Amma - embodying the same consciousness of Holy Spirit - knows my repulsion and need to break through this personal barrier, and has set things up in the most enticing way for me to face it. Tomorrow will tell.
Technological fix - after much dither back and forth about what technology to bring and what to leave home, I made the wrong choices. The iPad would not have worked because it has no USB port to insert an internet stick into. So that purchase didn't help, although it has been a delight for my mother when she last visited for watching old TV program through Netflix. The error with the cell phone was in not getting a SIM card before leaving. My son's advice about setting the phone on airplane mode and using Skype through a wifi connection would have been great if there had been wifi at the ashram. But despite what I had heard, there is no wifi at the ashram. They tried putting a SIM card in my phone, but that didn't work. And a trek into the nearby village to check the phone stores there was not encouraging. They wanted to take my phone and send it off someplace for a whole week. No way was I going to let that happen.
So now I am back to communicating through the ashram computers and the ashram international calls station. And the iPhone will continue to be of important use as camera, calculator, Bible and Book of Common Prayer, calendar, notepad, iPod, etc.
Dog and Monkey - The ashram now has two dogs, a father and daughter. They roam freely and are attached to Amma. The female today spotted a monkey on one of the ledges of our flat abut three stories up. That dog has kept the monkey pinned there for several hours by keeping guard on the ground beneath and barking eery once in a while just to let the monkey know she was till on guard. Monkey moved up a few stories.
Saturday, Dec. 1
After sleeping ten hours straight the previous night, of course, this night I could only sleep six and then lay awake for another two hours. Still it is rest. Music started in at 5:00 Am as usual. The process of re-enculturation back into the India setting is coming quickly. I am reminded, or I remember, how overwhelming is the sense of the masses humanity, the sheer numbers of people, through all the chance encounters of passing one another as we move about the ashram. The different colors of skin, the different languages, yet behind the eyes in each face is the recognition of another human being, another unique creation just as I am, asking the same questions, seeking comfort, love, rest, space to be and express, feeling the suffering and sorrows. People cry out to Amma here in bhagans (hymn like songs) begging her help, her comfort and love. And she gives it very concretely as the stories they tell relate. I do not question this. I know it is true.
But back to the story about recycling on the beach -
After noting the peace that drew me there on the beach, I talked with the manager of the recycle center and got a few more details about the work and the model they were using. This is really a national prototype for what they hope the whole country will use.
So I will see how I do with this tomorrow morning (Saturday). I could say that Amma - embodying the same consciousness of Holy Spirit - knows my repulsion and need to break through this personal barrier, and has set things up in the most enticing way for me to face it. Tomorrow will tell.
Technological fix - after much dither back and forth about what technology to bring and what to leave home, I made the wrong choices. The iPad would not have worked because it has no USB port to insert an internet stick into. So that purchase didn't help, although it has been a delight for my mother when she last visited for watching old TV program through Netflix. The error with the cell phone was in not getting a SIM card before leaving. My son's advice about setting the phone on airplane mode and using Skype through a wifi connection would have been great if there had been wifi at the ashram. But despite what I had heard, there is no wifi at the ashram. They tried putting a SIM card in my phone, but that didn't work. And a trek into the nearby village to check the phone stores there was not encouraging. They wanted to take my phone and send it off someplace for a whole week. No way was I going to let that happen.
So now I am back to communicating through the ashram computers and the ashram international calls station. And the iPhone will continue to be of important use as camera, calculator, Bible and Book of Common Prayer, calendar, notepad, iPod, etc.
Dog and Monkey - The ashram now has two dogs, a father and daughter. They roam freely and are attached to Amma. The female today spotted a monkey on one of the ledges of our flat abut three stories up. That dog has kept the monkey pinned there for several hours by keeping guard on the ground beneath and barking eery once in a while just to let the monkey know she was till on guard. Monkey moved up a few stories.
Saturday, Dec. 1
After sleeping ten hours straight the previous night, of course, this night I could only sleep six and then lay awake for another two hours. Still it is rest. Music started in at 5:00 Am as usual. The process of re-enculturation back into the India setting is coming quickly. I am reminded, or I remember, how overwhelming is the sense of the masses humanity, the sheer numbers of people, through all the chance encounters of passing one another as we move about the ashram. The different colors of skin, the different languages, yet behind the eyes in each face is the recognition of another human being, another unique creation just as I am, asking the same questions, seeking comfort, love, rest, space to be and express, feeling the suffering and sorrows. People cry out to Amma here in bhagans (hymn like songs) begging her help, her comfort and love. And she gives it very concretely as the stories they tell relate. I do not question this. I know it is true.
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