Happy New Year! It is now 2007 here in India and just about to turn at home in California. Here at Amma's ashram, we had an evening of darshan and celebration. Darshan is the opportunity to receive a hug from Amma. I had darshan both Saturday and Sunday. The experience is beyond anything I can describe in words and is something I keep very close to my heart. I can only say that Amma's hugs opened my heart with an explosive force that is truly divine.
Last night there was a special puja (ritual) for New Years. It was a Kali Puja and was beautiful and intense. Everything here feeds all the senses at once. Candles, incense, flowers, music, singing, chanting, clapping, prayer, kneeling...it all has a place in this incredible ritual to Kali, the Hindu Goddess. I appreciated this puja as much as anything I have done here in India, because it was a rare opportunity to see something old and completely different than anything I have yet experienced in my life. The energy present was powerful and uplifting. Although many associate Kali with the dark, she is truly the goddes of time and cutting through confusion to get straight to the truth. I know having participated in this puja will bring many blessings to 2007 for me and my work in the world.
I must sign off now but will return when I have more internet time. I will share with you some of what Amma spoke of in her New Year's address last night.
Hugs from Amritapuri, from me to you.
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