Tuesday, June 16, 2009

2009 06 16. Tuesday.

2009 06 16. Tuesday.

A had a nice long talk today with Swarupan this morning during the veggie chop seva from 7-9am. He's a young German guy staying here for a while. He has a spiritual teacher back in Germany and I asked him more about this teacher. Swarupan told me his teacher has received darshan from Amma and was the one who suggested Swarupan come to the ashram. Swarupan says he often has intuitions about the upcoming planetary changes and he shared about his intuitions, what they may mean and his relationship with his spiritual teacher. His teacher sounds like a pretty cool guy; sincere and coming from the heart.

Our conversation had what I call an authentic connective quality. That's where I feel I and the other person are sharing about our inner worlds in a clear and honest way. When I feel I'm getting a window into the other person, or they're getting a window into me is when I feel the conversation is authentic and meaningful.

On my way back to my room from the veggie chop seva I ran into Antara. She's a quiet and nice Canadian lady who sometimes helps with the compost pile work and we've chatted briefly a few times. It seemed she was feeling off center so I tried to tune into where she was at and create a space for her to share. She opened up a little about some difficulties she was having adjusting to the ashram and Indian culture. Breakfast was starting soon and I had to go to my room and get something. On the elevator back down I ran into her again and we ended up having breakfast together. One of the rare times that I didn't have a meal alone. She opened up a lot more about the difficulties she was having here and in her connection with Amma. I tried to listen and reflect back an understanding of her concerns. She said that most of the women here are difficult to deal with, not friendly and sometimes overpowering. Antara had many concerns on her mind so I listened for a long time and offered some ideas here and there. She seemed to really appreciate having someone to talk to. She's a very thoughtful woman and I liked her sincerity, honesty and deep desire for spiritual growth. She wasn't complaining, but rather working on how to take deeper responsibility for her life situation and experiences. I really enjoying learning about a person's inner world (part of being a 5 on the Enneagram) so it felt very good to listen and share with her. I especially liked hearing the details about her connection with Amma and how its growing and deepening, but sometimes is difficult. Any conversation about Amma is wonderful. Antara said she would like to live permanently at the ashram but Amma denied her request to purchase a flat. I suggested that perhaps Amma sees some further opportunities for her back home in Canada. It was time for my garbage seva so we walked back to the E building where we're both currently staying. She's up on the 14th floor.

Turyanan and I had a nice conversation while pulling the trash cart to and from the burn furnace. He's a cool guy about my age from Ireland. A wonderful accent! He was sharing about all kinds of things; his experiences here at the ashram, his connection with Amma, his experience with the Irish Amma group, his work as a designer and other things. He's a lively guy with a quick smile and great sense of humor. Did I mention his wonderful accent? I enjoyed the conversation a lot because, like my earlier conversations with Swarupan and Antara, I felt he was opening a window into his inner world in a natural and spontaneous way. I asked a lot of questions because I wanted to just listen. As he shared about his experience with the Irish Amma group, I shared about some of my experiences with Amma groups in DC and Miami. We had some of the same experiences and it was nice to share stories. He had some experience with the London Amma group and said when he was there it was going thru a lot of conflict. I shared how the DC group went thru a similar experience a few years back. I also shared how the Miami group (which was small) had a very sweet and relaxed energy. I miss the Miami Amma satsang. Niramayan and Athulita were very sweet and warm and their energy filled the gatherings.

Three good connections all in one morning. Felt nice. Seems like I was due for some authentic and connective conversations. Have to check with the Amma jyotish guy and see how the stars were lined up. After all the sharing and dialog it felt good to have lunch by myself and continue work on memorizing a bit of the Hanuman Chalisa.

It was a very clear day today. Low humidity. From the 10th floor I could clearly see the Kerala mountains far way directly to the east of the ashram. We drove thru them the last time I was here and went on the South India tour with Amma. They were beautiful. Green, lush, cool and hilly. One of my favorite combinations.

Prabana is a lady from Europe who helps organize the compost pile project. Prabana is a very hard worker and very task oriented. She can sometimes be kind of abrupt and sharp. At the end of today's compost pile work, she and Peter were having a lively and somewhat heated discussion about the big picture of how to proceed with the whole composting project.

At one point during the work today there were about 7 or 8 Indian men who came by to look at the compost project. Interesting the parallel English and Malayalam conversations going on. I wonder what their ideas and plans for the compost are. I'm hoping they assign some more Indian workers to the project. Creating and properly maintaining a compost pile is a lot of work.

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