Letters from India

64. Blessed Sivarathri 1987

Blessed Sivarathri 1987

March 1, 1987

Prasanthi Nilayam

Dear Peoples,

Jai Sri Sai Ram! I hope you are all well and keeping happy and at peace. I can't believe how busy Swami is having me be! Always time is occupied - difficult to find time even to eat and sleep. Since my spiritual birthday (18 February) I haven’t been getting more than five or six hours sleep per night. Swami’s Will at this time, I guess.

Seva to this Indian lady (Krishnaa from West Bengal) takes up a lot of time; in addition, I do errands for her like store shopping, bank, office, etc. She’s really a sweet person and it is sort of like serving God, as the Divine Mother. It gives me joy to help her, although it is a strain on this physical body.

I’ve been enjoying all the ashram activities. Even with the seva, still I must get up at 3:30 AM for Omkar, etc. Home sweet home! I like always staying near the Mandir, bathing in the Divinity that encompasses the area.

I’ve been continuing my Telugu lessons (eighth day today).

The weather is getting hotter - much to my liking! :-) The shed is really unbearable for others now, in the afternoons (heat). So it’s quite bearable to me. 

Sivarathri was wonderful! I helped to clean the Poornachandra beforehand – imagine scrubbing with rags, a hall with cement floors (actually granite slabs), seating 20,000 people! It was quite a job. But I got to work side by side with the permanent ashram volunteers, and the whole atmosphere was charged with Divinity.

After the festival we scrubbed again – this time scrubbing prasad off the floors!

Surprisingly, I was permitted to do Poornachandra seva on Sivarathri night, this time only four of us foreigners worked. They put me by the front door, directing foreigners back to their section, directing VIPs to the front, and filtering out Indians that had sneaked in. The other foreigner volunteers worked in the back, and had their places there, but for some reason they put me in front, in the midst of the VIP volunteers!

Swami gave a discourse, then sang four bhajans. No all-night bhajans! Who knows the ways of the Lord. Anyway, I feel really fortunate that I could experience all night bhajans at least one year (1986). It was funny – I was sitting by Swami’s second sister, Parvatamma. She pretended to be so surprised that there were no all-night bhajans. She turned to me saying, “What!” in Telugu. Luckily I could answer in Telugu. :-) Imagine, even though Swami’s sister isn’t informed, they think we’re informed (the volunteers). But really no one knows beforehand what Swami will decide!

Prasad of sweet rice and vegetable rice was distributed to all (or almost all). Swami directed from the stage, almost the whole time. I helped serve – by the end, I was covered with prasad from head to toe! It’s not easy serving undisciplined masses of – excuse me – Indian villagers. But it was fun and a lot of Grace. How I love the crowds of devotees, eager for Darshan and Grace.

As usual, there were huge crowds for several days before the festival, and two days after. To give others the chance, I didn’t join the lines during these days; I didn’t go inside the compound for Darshan. This is because not everyone fits in, so why should I take the place of someone who has come only for one Darshan? Anyway, Mataji likes it if the “permanents” (those here for a long time) do this during festivals.

Instead, I had Darshan on the steps of the nearby South Prasanthi building – glimpsing Him from afar (so much crowd even outside the gates!).

One Darshan Venkamma happened to come to where I was sitting, to have Darshan also. She saw I was practicing Telugu, and asked to see my book. Although I refrain from making judgments about the advancement of His sisters, still I couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling that she was blessing my book and my efforts in learning Telugu. She called me “Bangaroo” (means "gold" but used as an affectionate term) twice before returning the book.

Several “close” foreign devotes of Swami (many interviews etc.) I'm hearing, have not been able to get visas, and are staying here, quietly illegal. Ayyo Paapam! How happy I am that I am not in such a position, and I really, really won't be! I’d rather return to the States than be in that position. What to do.

So, all is fine. Hope all is well there, take care and may the Lord Bless you.

May all the worlds have peace and happiness. :-)

Love,

Eileen