San Ramon, San Ramon, good morning San Ramon! This beloved ashram hosts Amma for 11 days on this tour, which is shortened somewhat due to more days in S America, but still a good long run with the Divine Mother in one location.
Morning prep starts with the usual pallet breakdown, but also with a distinct feeling among the tour staff of settling in. There are many brilliant and amazing stops on the tour, but somehow, here and now on the sacred grounds of this ashram, and for the next 11 days, we experience the heart of the long adventure. Perhaps this is because San Ramon is the only ashram in N America with enough room to host Mother, while all the other cities host Mother in hotel ballrooms, fair grounds, or similar venues. Or, it could be the natural beauty of the ashram grounds that make it sweet, or perhaps just the length of our stay here with Mother. Either way you look at it, we are definitely home.
Amidst the pallet activity, precious supplies being unburied and filed away to their proper locations, I spot Sumati and make my way over to tell her something I've been waiting to say for a long time. In short, it is a Thank You. I acknowledge Amma's Grace in the whole matter, which often works through her devotees. In the case of getting me on this tour, it was Sumati who was the greatest help in several ways. For this, and other reasons too, my heart will always be grateful to her. Sumati, may Amma's grace bless you forever for your kindness and help.
San Ramon veggie prep and cooking occurs in an outdoor kitchen, a semi permanent structure that is probably the result of ashram needs bumping into permit restrictions. Considering some of the other veggie prep locations we endure on tour, it is quite refreshing to work here. With sunshine pouring in as well as breezes of fresh air, just enough room to spread out, and a place for all our supplies, what more could you ask for? OK, air conditioning is a lovely luxury when the temperature climbs over 100 degrees, but, luckily, there are only a few of those days in store, and, it wouldn't be tour without an uncomfortable moment or two. Yep, its those moments that challenge us to grow, but more on that later. In short, the kitchen has concrete floors, all the plumbing, fixtures, and furnishings you would want and need, all of it protected by a large tent structure that keeps out high winds, rain, and direct sun. It is a charming slice of Amma, and, proves very functional in feeding the throngs of people that descend on the ashram grounds during Amma's visit in the summer and autumn.
Sumati, who has been veggie prep staff longer than any of us, starts the tour here in San Ramon. After getting a good look at our multicultural band of veggie choppers, she calls an all hands veggie prep staff meeting, wishing to go over health regulations. Many of our staff members had come from the Indian and/or European tours, where the regulations are different than here in the states. This conjures up quite a hilarious scene, as every sentence that Sumati speaks is immediately translated into Spanish and then French so that all can understand.
As for sleeping accommodations, I find myself in the “Porch Tent.” This structure, featured in the photo above, is created by closing in the area underneath the porch of the main house with portable tent walls. These walls consist of a durable white tarp material, and contain patches of clear plastic for windows. All the rooms in the main house are filled with sleeping bags, as well as another large tent not adjacent to the house. I am quite happy to get this “room,” because it provides ventilation, a nice view of the grounds, and fond memories of camping. The bugs here are minimal, save for a single large tarantula I stumble upon one nite, which I gently remove to the grounds outside. Just inside the house, on the basement floor, is a bathroom with shower, while the hallway has a few computers with Internet access, including spare Ethernet cables for plugging in laptops. Continuing up a set of stairs is the “staff room,” which contains many goodies for breakfast and snacks. Even though there are so many staff members here, showers are not hard to come by, because all our seva schedules are spread out in different times.
In the kitchen, we begin our mornings with a prayer and chant, short and sweet, which invoke Amma's sacred presence. Speakers are sprinkled about the place, and following the prayer we hear the 108 Names and archana on CD to which we chop some of our first vegetables. Later, various bhajans or chants are played, and during the morning program (which starts at 10 AM and runs until about 3 to 4:30 PM) bhajans are piped in live from the Darshan hall.
Every morning, we get about a 1 to 2 minute warning before Amma drives by the kitchen on her way to the Darshan hall, which comes in the form of a loud voice saying “Amma’s coming!” Upon hearing these magic words, all the kitchen staff and sevites wind down what they are doing and we make our way over to the side of the road just outside the kitchen. One of our fantastic Indian cooks, Kamala, starts us off with a bhajan and we all start singing and clapping our hands to the beat, picking up the tempo as Amma draws near. This same process repeats itself after the morning program is over and Amma leaves the Darshan hall, except this time, kisses are dispensed to all who approach the car by the divine hand hanging out the window.
When seva is not too crazy, the veggie prep staff take turns on running up to the hall for the short meditation that precedes morning Darshan. This dose of divine energy often infuses our seva with a special quality. As Amma always says, even a moment spent in meditation is as precious as gold. It is precious indeed, when in the presence of our beloved Amma.
There is plenty of room to mix salad in San Ramon, and that's a good thing! As the photo above demonstrates, we make up to 11 bins at a time that need mixing. Because salad is a raw food, and/or won’t be cooked after handling, gloves are required. Notice the pretty gloves on Pranaji’s hands, who stands to the left. Sumati, on the right, is sprinkling some final ingredients into the salad.
When the days get hot, we open some of the kitchen tent walls to allow more air circulation, as shown in the photo above. As the end of our stay in San Ramon draws near, during the retreat and leading into Devi Bhava, he have several days with temperatures climbing over 100 degrees, making veggie prep a challenge. Mindfulness practice and lots of water helps us through the heat wave, and the food still makes it out on time.
The photo above, taken just before the last Devi Bhava here in San Ramon, features our full veggie prep staff as it stands in this moment. As the tour heads east, some of these people will be shuffled around to different kitchen departments. From left to right, we have Anand (From somewhere in Europe), Prana (Austrian), Jitendra (German), Tom (Polish and American), Jagadish (Brazilian), Supriya (Spanish), Tejas (???), Rishikesh (French), and Sumati (American).
San Ramon, rather than offering those moments of complete absorption into what I came to eventually call on this tour "exalted states of consciousness," offers a slower and more graceful unfolding of the energetic and spiritual bodies. Often I feel a sense of expansion in the heart chakra, which is a very tangible sense of cleanliness and openness in the heart area. As well as I can feel it, I can also easily see this in my mind's eye with very little effort.
Even in San Ramon, I am still sleeping through the Devi Pujas. For the first one however, as I'm laying there in the porch tent, there is this tangible presence to the mind, or should I say, a lessening of the randomness of the mind as it focuses on Amma. I drift into sleep like this, and find the dream state intermingling with the puja, producing dreams of Amma's and our intentions flowing out into the world for world peace and harmony. I try this again for the second puja, but all I get is a very lazy and tamasic sleep, out of which I wake to catch dinner before heading over to help pack the kitchen, which begins at midnite.
The crowning jewel of my stay in San Ramon is Darshan towards the end of this second Devi Bhava. A token came to me much earlier in the nite, and I had already helped pack the kitchen (from midnite to 3 AM) and taken a nap since then, and am now reemerging into the hall in the morning light. When Devi finally takes me in her arms, I feel time stop as she stares deep into my eyes. Some kind of transmission is occurring that is way outside my scope of awareness and understanding. Her eyes linger there, looking into mine. It feels like some kind of recognition, yet also something way beyond that. There is a sense that I may understand one day, or that understating may unfold and permit me to know in stages, but for now, it is completely beyond me.
The flower shower comes with more training in proper placement so as to catch Devi in all her brilliance from a sweet vantage point. Amma Amma Taye, Devi in full regalia, and kneeling on a carpet of flower petals, these are some of my favorite things!
With the end of Devi Bhava comes quick packing of my personal belongings, a brief lunch in the staff room at the main house, and a ride down to the Shiva lot to catch an ashram arranged bus to Los Angeles. It turns out I'm on bus number 2, and as luck would have it, bus number 1 is there and waiting, and number 2 is late. We endure a few uncomfortable hours in the Shiva lot, when no one can get a hold of anybody who knows what is happening, including the bus company, who says on a voice recording that business hours are such and such Monday through Friday. Of course, today happens to be a Saturday! Several hours later, bus number 2 does show up. Apparently, there was some kind of miscommunication about the pick up time. With that we finally begin our 6 to 7 hour drive for LA.
More later...
Please click the links to your right for completed posts from other cities...
No comments:
Post a Comment