Articles Tagged with: "Karunamayi"

When I first entered the spiritual path, I was not interested primarily in meditation. Oh, meditation was nice as an idea, a kind of delightful fantasy of yogis and yoginis meditating peacefully in the forest. But my main interest was in things like devotion, chanting, or selfless service. Because I had read about the importance of meditation, I did try half-heartedly to meditate, but I never was able to achieve any kind of concentration, peace or bliss. I ended up deciding that meditation simply wasn’t for me, and that I would reach the ultimate state in some other way, like devotion or service. Then I met Amma.

The sacred element of fire has probably always fascinated people, and lightning has certainly always been a source of terror and awe. I’ll never forget one of my earliest experiences with Amma, when a sacred fire ceremony seemed to call forth an incredible response from Mother Nature. My inner and outer worlds seemed to merge as lightning flashed without and subtle energy flashed within.

The ancient Vedic sages viewed the Earth as a divine goddess, a being who had feelings and consciousness, and who responded to our prayers and actions. The sages sang beautiful hymns of gratitude to Mother Earth, wished her peace in rhythmic peace prayers, and also performed elaborate fire ceremonies for her peace and happiness. They believed that Mother Earth holds us all in her lap, and that if we are to be happy and content, she must be happy first.