Wisdom from Age

On April 17th, Amma's Ayudh USA visited LightHouse Nursing Home in Castro valley. Amma's volunteers individually visited all the rooms offering a rose and simple conversation. The gift we got in return were truths that can only be sincerely understood through the span of one's life. The most astounding parallel was that almost all of them who were able to sustain conversation stressed (unprompted) that the foundation of an honorable life is the act of giving selflessly. Through their tears and occasionally our own we felt when we left that we had received a lot more than we had ever hoped to give.

Ocie Benson, an 86 year old American lady, was celebrating her birthday facing a cold white wall. Although she looked tired from receiving fluids she had a formidable presence which contributed to our initial hesitation to approach her. She did not hesitate to share her insights into various topics ranging from marital relationships to understanding death. She had witnessed one of her sons being murdered and the other die slowly due to injuries sustained from a street side thug. Her husband and all her siblings had died of old age. The thing that truly struck us at first about Ocie was that although she was deprived of the family and companionship we take f

or granted, she had a certain sincerity in her optimism that truly reflected on the resilience of the human spirit. This was in stark comparison to the many who wandered those halls that had to a great extent reconciled themselves to their fate. Ocie was older than most and faced imminent death due to chronic heart disease. As a result she treats our each meeting as if it were our last and strains to kiss us goodbye. After around three hours of conversation we soon discovered that every word she spoke to us caused immense pain to her throat. She had been confronted with the option to underg

o surgery to quell the pain, but in return she would lose the power to speak. Even now she had to work for every word, but that did not stop her from sharing as much as she could, and we could tell that she really did. Perhaps what we really drew from her was inspiration to never look at things from one angle, to broaden our perspective on meaning, and truly introspect on the reason for our existence.

Ocie was an out of the ordinary example, and such people are hard to find. Still there are countless veins of knowledge that can be tapped to provide one with a conversation that can induce a lasting change. For true sincerity has a power than cannot be matched. Our Amma is a shining example of this, and her effort should urge us all try to help those who can truly benefit from the comfort of a few words. When we left Ocie, she told us that her family now had three new young members (thats us!). Amma says that in essence we are all beads strung on the same string, a family in its truest sense, let it be our mission to be the family of all those who are willing to receive us, as faulted we may be.

Earth Day At The Ashram!

Aum Amriteswaryai Namah 

On April 25th, 2009 Earth Day was celebrated AYUDH Style!!! AYUDH helped to organize  the Earth Day Fair at the M.A. Center.

Amma says  "Nature is our first mother. She nurtures us throughout our lives. Our birth mother may allow

 us to sit on her lap for a couple of years, but Mother Nature

 patiently bears our weight our

 entire life. Just as a child is obligated to his birth mother, we should all feel an obligation and responsi

bility towards Mother Nature."

It was a beautiful sunny day which started with the  Eco-Meditation, followed by the workshop "How to grow vegetables at home" and a guided tour of the new orchard at the ashram. AYUDH members have helped plant many of the young trees that will someday produce apples.

Later in the afternoon a picnic lunch was served and the AYUDH band made it's debut! Performing original devotional songs,  the AYUDH music was described by many listeners as "so beautiful"  The band earned much applause and requests for an "encore" at the end.

Following the performance, the celebration continued with lots of family fun. At the AYUDH booth face painting was offered as 

well as an opportunity to sponsor a tree to be planted in a loved one's name or as a gift to Mother Nature in the new orchard.  

Near the pond, AYUDH had set up a bubble station and in the middle of it all AYUDH members, little children (and big kids too!) participated in a rousing game of capture the flag otherwise known as "Rescue Amma" with a photo of Amma in place of the flag.

Other booths had information about how

 to keep bees, solar cooking and other tips for a more green friendly life style that will benefit Mother Nature positively.

The entire day was wrapped up with a relay race in which participants had to cluck like a chicken and walk like a crab! 

It was a warm spring day, the ashram swans floated by on the surface of the pond and the trees swayed gently in the wind. Each summer when She visits San Ramon,  Amma leads an outdoor  meditation  

in the field where we had the celebration.   Spending the day in the grass enjoying the sunshine and fresh air was a good reminder of the love that Mother Nature offers us every day and Amma's

 Presence was strongly felt.   

It was a fantastic way to remember the importance of nature in our lives and to celebrate Earth Day with consciousness and love!

Story of Love

Story:
My dad always had an angry streak while my sister and I were growing up. If his ego was ever challenged he just would blow up. Frequently while working on a project with us, or on his own, if a challenge to his skills or to his ego arose he would start to swear and yell and a hush of fear would fall over the whole family. There was nothing that we could do and there was nothing that we could say because he was so sensitive and emotionally injured. This negative trend continued up until my sister and I headed off to college. Over the process of going to school and returning home we both gained new perspective on life and the way that we percieve things to be. Each time we would come home to visit we would bring new ideas home to dad and mom, and they would always adopt new ways of living that we presented such as buying local and orgainic foods, using cloth bags and composting. They even bought solar pannels for their home.
After I finished my first year internship at a non-profit in the Sierra Nevada, I began to delve even deeper from environmental dis-ease to my own emotional and spiritual ailments and healing. Over this period of time I began to express things that I never had to my parents. Things that I had never said before that seemed terrifying to say about problems in childhood and how they effect me today. Speaking these words often felt like jumping off a cliff and I didn't know who would catch me. My parents heard me and gave me love as best they could as I moved forwad in this self inquiry. Over this time I began to notice changes in my dad too. He started dropping external negative habits in himself expressing his own vassanas and crying a lot more. Things have been pretty hard for both of us over the past couple years, but we are now facing things and bearing the pain like never before. The whole family has been noticing the changes in my dad. We were driving in San Francisco last month and we were very lost for hours. My dad kept his cool and stayed more patient than the rest of us. This is unheard of in given his history. This is just one of the many examples of his ablity to cope and to not get angry that I have witnessed. He and I both have been meditating and trying to listen to God/Amma more thatn listening to our own loud egos that want to be heard and feel frustrated. I feel like we are approaching change and challenge in a whole new way. I thank Amma for giving us both the strength and patience to face these negative tendancies; and for showing us the light at the end of this tunnel to walk towards even if we feel blind right now. I read an amma quote this morning that said "you are love!" And I believe it. Understanding this allows me to witness the false me based on fear that has been parading around as me for so many years. Another moral to this story that is unfolding is that once you begin to look inside of yourself you unknowingly open a window for others to do the same. I had no idea that my family would be moving forward together spiritually like we are, but each time one of us take a leap of faith, or opens thier eyes to unbelievable pain it becomes an invitiation for others to do the same. Thank you Amma for lifting us up each day.
Om Namah Shivaya

In courage and in love
Leah