Travel Day 940 – Amritapuri Ashram, Kerala, INDIA
It was the second day of the IAM Technique class and we were once more learning more about Amma’s meditation style…
Secrets at the Ashram in Amritapuri
The main advantage of following closely the guided steps was apparently that the technique was developed and blessed by a realized master and thus could significantly help us in our spiritual growth. I personally had trouble imagining that slavishly following a chart and counting seconds would help my spiritual growth, but I still found it interesting enough to stick around for the second day as well…
This time we got some more theoretical information and practiced two more rounds of the Integrated Amrita Meditation. But we also received another speech about the secrecy about this technique and we were once more advised not to talk to anyone about it and to completely destroy all documentation that we received during the class. The papers had to be burned or ripped and submerged in fast flowing water, at least so we had to promise…
Again, this seemed all a bit much to me and at some point I had the feeling this whole secret thing about the IAM technique was simply made up to give people the impression that they received something extremely valuable than anything else. This make-believe was probably part of the spiritual motivation, but for me personally it seemed again like a little corner-stone of the spiritual competition that was happening here in the ashram… I know more secrets than you… I am more spiritual than you… great, good for you…
In the evening I then spontaneously decided to go for my second Darshan hug from Amma. Since it was during the week it seemed much emptier and I was hoping that the experience would equally be much more enjoyable and maybe less mechanical than it had been last time. So I got my token, I got in line, waited and even brought a present for Amma, but I also ended up doing something else…
So far I had tried to fit into the crown of super spiritual people while wearing my white dhoti. I felt it was suitable because everyone else was dressed entirely in white. But today I had decided to put on my black lunghi and a black t-shirt, simply because that was what I was wearing most of the times anyway and I felt more comfortable in my own clothes rather than in a spiritual costume…
In the end I couldn’t tell if it was my dress, the smaller crowed of people, the present I brought, my attitude or everything together, but this time the Darshan experience turned out to be a lot more enjoyable. In fact it was so enjoyable that I decided to talk to Amma and ask her for a personal mantra that I could use for my further practice…
She agreed and a few hours later I received another hug from her, my personal mantra and my initiation. It all happened rather quickly and before I even realized what was going on, Amma had thus became my spiritual guru. Wow, this was definitely a much better day then my last couple of days, but I couldn’t help and smile when I was told that my personal mantra from Amma was of course also a secret and it couldn’t be told to anyone else… : )
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