A Devotee’s Remembrance of Christmas with Amma
In
late December, 2000, I was blessed to be attending a meditation
retreat at Amma’s ashram in Penusila. As always at Amma’s
retreats, we were silent and wearing white, waking before dawn
and spending our time in periods of meditation interspersed
with classes and chanting with Amma. The meditation hall had
not yet been built, and our sessions took place either in the
marble-floored room on the ground floor of Amma’s house,
or in her garden.
On Christmas
Eve, to our surprise, a large, rectangular, western-style cake, “Merry
Christmas” written on the icing, was carried into the
room. Swamiji distributed booklets with the words of Christmas
carols, and there we sat, far away from the frosty weather,
festive commotion and gatherings with family usually associated
with Christmas in the United States, serenading Amma in her
own home in India with “Jingle Bells” and “Silent
Night.” She sat listening
rather solemnly, as if giving her “babies” the chance
to celebrate in a familiar way while not letting us forget that
we were gathered here in a different kind of family, where the
emphasis, though joyful, was still inward.
The Christmas
cake was cut and distributed as prasad, each of us coming up
to receive a slice from Amma’s hand. Amma preceded us
to the dining hall, where she stood inside the doorway, presenting
each of the ladies, as we entered, with a beautiful red-bordered
white cotton sari. Amma’s
thoughtfulness, and the simple way in which she provided us
with Christmas, was incredibly moving.
The following
week, on New Year’s Day, there was a huge puja and homa,
with thousands of Amma’s devotees from the surrounding
areas coming in to the ashram to attend. Amma requested that
all the ladies wear the saris she had given us. As we moved
through the colorfully-dressed crowds, standing out in our white
and red saris (some of us wearing a sari for the first time!),
the tribal people would stare at us and pranam with an awe that
was embarrassing—so
impressed were they with these westerners who had come from
so far away to meditate in silence with their beloved Amma.
Indeed, as much as we westerners love Amma, the heartfelt reverence
pouring out of their eyes as the local people approached Amma
was an unforgettable lesson in devotion and respect.
When I wear
that sari to Amma’s programs, or see someone else wearing
hers, I think we always remember that “silent night” Christmastime
with Amma, and her sweet generosity. It is not just those of
us who have the tangible gift of that sari, though—what
an incomparable gift each of us has received from Amma, shining
forever in our hearts, which we recognize when we see each other.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
May All Beings Be Happy
Om Shantih Shantih Shantihi
May the Whole World Be in Peace
