Amma ~ Sri Mata Amritanandamayi's 30th Visit to England
Amma ~ Sri Mata Amritanandamayi's
30th Visit to England
My Amma Experience 2017
Ganesha appears in Glastonbury Abbey, or was it Amma appearing as Ganesha?
Here's my news since my visit to Glastonbury Abbey on Saturday 4th November (see my last blog), when I met a Rat! This is the animal magic sign that Ganesha, using the rat as his vehicle, is visiting you. I came home and lit a candle and incense to Ganesha, the Indian God who is the remover of all obstacles.
Before I went to bed I ordered five separate puja’s for my family from Amma’s website. A Puja is a blessing to the Divine, a perfect way to clear any family issues and challenges affecting your life. I wondered whether Amma’s organisation had received the order or the payments, because there was no email confirmation. When I went to sleep that night I had a dream, it was very vivid and I wish to share it with you.
The Dream - or was it a vision of my Amma Experience?
I was in a school hall and there was lots of dancing and singing. I was delighted to see my friends. Then I saw Amma and she was dancing with us. All of a sudden she took me to one side and grabbed hold of me and brought me to my knees. Sri Mata Amritanandamayi, known as Amma gave me her darshan (motherly embrace) and looked straight into my eyes just as the rat had earlier in the day. After the really tight Amma hug, she sat me down beside her and she gave me a golden bowl with some very sweet food in it. I ate the sweet food and Amma got up and continued to play with everybody in the hall.
I was left by her chair in a daze, I looked at the bowl, and as I had finished the food I turned it over and it was covered in angelic symbols. I knew I had to wash out the bowl. It was very important that it was clean and clear and beautifully polished to give back to Amma. I stood up and went out of the school hall. I was looking for a tap and found one in the hallway. As I turned on the tap, I realised that the sink was actually over an ice making machine. I had to wash the golden bowl, but as I did, the ice in the machine started to melt. I panicked and I turned off the tap, and then I realised the significance!
During the healing sessions I give, I suggest you breathe in Violet Light and you melt away all your issues, as they are like ice cubes in hot water. I was watching all my issues dissolving and washing away as I cleaned Amma’s golden bowl. It was such an ‘Aha!’ moment. I was so pleased I ran back into the hallway and Amma was still singing and dancing with all my friends and then I woke up!
I was delighted by such a clear visionary dream; it was obvious to me that the Puja requests had been received. They would be done on the 18th November, the new moon. It was no coincidence that this was also the time that Amma’s Tour came to the UK, she would give Devi Bhava that evening, a truly awesome experience.
The following two weeks were quite horrendous; the experiences my family and I were going through were very challenging. I kept thinking about the puja’s and whether they would make a difference. I have made quite a monetary investment so I just had to trust.
Amma’s Visit to London at Sandown Park - 17th & 18th November 2017
“Mata Amritanandamayi, world spiritual and humanitarian leader visits London for 2 days. We warmly invite you to come & be inspired by Amma's teachings, her humanitarian mission & loving embrace”.
This was going to be the 30th Anniversary of Amritanandamayi coming to the UK, it was my 18th year of visiting Amma, I had invited my husband and my daughter to come with me. It is such a beautiful and unique occasion, such a privilege to be in the presence of an Avatar, Divine Mother Amritanandamayi. Every year I recommend that my clients come for an individual spiritual experience for the whole two or three day event.
On the morning of the first day I woke up at 6:30 a.m. It was quite a shock, I realised that I had forgotten to write my regular article for Connections Magazine or pay the Daisy Centre staff wages!!! So I had to complete this before I could go to Sandown Park, where the event was taking place. There were so many little things holding me back, it was as if I really had to have cleared the decks so that I would be fully present for my visit. It was lunchtime by the time I got there, as I walked in I received a timecard. This meant I would be able to see Amma early in the evening.
For the past few years the tour had been held at Alexandra Palace. For the first time it was being held in this absolutely fantastic new venue - Sandown Park. As I walked into the room I met many friends from the vortex healing classes, my clients - old and new and my Glastonbury friends. Everyone was so happy to see each other and me, I hadn’t seen many of them for years.
I was delighted to bump into one of my friends in particular; we had a Chai tea together and a sit down. We had been trying to catch up with each other for at least six months. I wanted to ask her if she would like to run her writers’ evenings at the Daisy Centre, I want to attend and improve my writing skills and it’s part of my big plan for next year.
That morning I had received a phone call from a big publication, one of the grown-up glossy magazines. They had told me their rate and I had laughed and said I would only be able to advertise in it when I was more established, unless they would be happy to accept my small contribution. My friend convinced me and helped me realise I was more than ready for this next step. Part of my fear was that I did not think I was ready, that I had to wait until the sale of the Daisy Centre had taken place and I had my new website and new premises. I thought no more of it and I was very surprised when the phone rang whilst I was talking to my friend. The magazine had thought about what I said and were willing to offer me a price I could afford, miraculously we made a magical deal.
The Revelation that I'm on the Right Track
I was very happy, because I felt that I had pushed through my fear and that I was ready for the next step on my spiritual journey, life after the Daisy Centre in Glastonbury. As I was talking to my friend and telling her of my Amma dream, I realised that the school hall in my dream was Sandown Park and I was here with her and all my friends. It was really spooky and a big ripple of deja vu went through my body. It was such a big revelation.
I have learnt over the past 15 years, that the minute you decide to go and see Amma, she starts to show you the signs, the whole experience translates as life lessons and spiritual understandings present every minute.
This time I was so excited, I was looking forward to seeing how this day would unfold. I sat next to my friend Ammaprema and the fun began.
The field of British Flowers
As this was the 30th anniversary of Amma coming to England the organisers had a surprise for her. Every single person who was sitting in the hall for the opening address, including the children, would hold a British flower. There were sunflowers, blue cornflowers and white and yellow narcissus, the smell was amazing. I had two narcissi flowers, yellow and white and because I was in a walkway I was given more, so by the time the opening address started I had a bunch of flowers. I kept asking my Angels whether I should give the flowers to the people next to me and they replied ‘no you are to hold onto all of them’.
When the surprise for Amma took place and people held the flowers in the air, it was absolutely beautiful, the idea was that Amma would look out and see a field of British flowers. Hundreds and hundreds, even thousands of flowers were waving at Amma. Showing her how many people loved her, how many people had appreciated her coming to England every year. After the surprise I held onto my flowers and everybody around me gave me theirs to hold. so by the the time I went for my darshan I had a huge bunch of narcissi.
As I got ready for my darshan, for my hug with Amma, I realised that all the issues and challenges over the past few years, especially this year, were to do with narcissistic behaviour within the family, in all my business situations and within the world. I had to giggle to myself and see the huge cosmic joke that I was going for my darshan with a handful of narcissists, sorry narcissus, or is it narcissi? A big bunch of narcissist!
I asked for a Clear sign from the Divine
When I reached the stage I was extremely excited, but was moved by the calm and beautiful atmosphere. A profound moment in time. When I received my hug from Amma, I was overwhelmed, it was so beautiful and I kept just saying “thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you” it was exactly the same as the dream. As I got up to leave, Amma grabbed hold of my arm, turned me round, and stroked my cheek.
In the whole of my previous visits to Amma this had never happened to me before. The last time I was so excited about this kind of thing was in 2011 when Amma laughed at me - she looked me straight in the eyes and laughed. When I got back to Glastonbury my whole life had turned around and upside down. So this time I was very wary of the message and I sat on the stage beside her contemplating the amazing experience. There is always a deeper meaning to all of the Divine Mother’s actions.
The tears were still rolling down my cheeks when a little girl who used to visit me in the Daisy Centre appeared. I knew her mother very well, we had had a misunderstanding, the little girl stood beside me and asked “Why you crying?” I told her they were tears of joy. She said that it was okay her mummy said that people cry tears of joy when they come and see Amma. I asked her how old she was now, she was seven, the last time I had seen her she was three. As I continued to cry, I told her it was okay, Amma’s job was to open people’s hearts and melt the hurt and pain in their hearts.. She continued to look into my eyes and reassure me, then smiled and went back to her mum.
When I sat down beside Amma and looked inside for an answer to her turning round and touching my cheek, it became very clear. I was to turn the other cheek to all of the issues, all of the problems and all of the narcissistic personality issues that were arising in my life, including my own. I was to recognise that I was not to retaliate but to be compassionate not keep fighting back, but surrender and accept. My job now was to bring in love, not anger and war.
This was a huge understanding for me, a massive new way of being. I realise now that Amma had been with me since my cry for help in Virginia Beach in October, when issues had really come to a head. I went home to tell my husband, but he was fast asleep. That night I slept soundly for the first time in a very long time.
The next day was the day of Devi Bhava when Amma, the Divine Mother, after giving humanity a water puja with forgiveness and compassion, transforms. She turns into the Goddess and gives Darshan hugs throughout the night until sunrise.
The Divine reply was 'Turn the Other Cheek'
My daughter was due to come to consolidate the Puja’s that I had purchased for her in her name, unfortunately she had other plans that day. The disappointment bought on my tears, but I knew these were my expectations, not her’s, and I had to surrender. I had to turn the other cheek. let go of any aspirations and expectations. It’s not my fight but it is my disappointment, I have to take responsibility for my own feelings.
The good news was that my husband was going to come for the afternoon and evening. I was once again connecting with my friends. It was amazing and so wonderful to see my spiritual family. During the afternoon, in preparation for the evening puja I was helping a little. As I waited for Paul in the line there was a darshan ticket issue, this always seems to happen with new people. I think it’s part of the process - bringing up your stuff, seeing whether you’re really ready for it or not. Paul had an early ticket, I had a very late ticket, which would mean staying until three or 4 o’clock in the morning. We wanted to go together, to have a married couple’s darshan, to cement and consolidate our relationship and marriage. I don’t know the plan, or the big picture, all I know was that it was part of the process and part of the play that was taking place.
I Realised I was made to change
As we were waiting for the evening programme, to start, having stood in the queue for two hours, Paul went off and found coffee and cake. He brought it all the way back from the end of the hall to where we were sitting. As he sat down, balancing the coffee and cake very expertly, the lady next to him stood up, sending the coffee all over me, staining my white dress and making a huge mess on the floor. I went to get tissues and cleared up the mess with as little fuss as possible.
Without any more drama I went and bought a new white Indian dress and white leggings. Within half an hour I had completely changed my outward appearance. My favourite dress, with the daisy on it, had been ruined and was now in my bag. It took me a while to realise it was another message from Amma: I had to change. And I had changed, within an hour, and without any drama, and it was just a matter of fact. I knew what to do and did it straight away.
With a new dress to wear I could be seen to have physically changed. The darshan ticket drama continued until I realised that I just had to surrender. So I surrendered. I asked the final person who I knew may be able to help us, and she did. She exchanged the ticket which was amazing. Paul and I had our couple’s darshan. It was absolutely beautiful. I love my husband so much. I was so grateful that he came to consolidate the puja and make sense of the difficult time we had all been through. I felt the pujas and Amma would bring about completion and solutions in this challenging time. After analysing why we had such a drama over our tickets, I realised it was another lesson from Amma, Paul and I need to be more on the same page - in sync with each other. My original ticket was for very early in the morning, this would have enabled me to give more Seva (Selfless service) and to have stayed until the Paramatman light that flows from Amma at the end of the event at sunrise. If we had accepted what we had been given there would not of been a drama and we would both of been seeped in Amma’s Divine Love for longer this year.
By the time we sat on the stage and experienced our hug with Amma, we had met more of our London and other friends, we realised how much we missed seeing them and that now the Daisy Centre had come to an end I would be able to see them more often. I would also be free to do the spiritual things that that make me happy.
Learning the lessons and listening to the signs
I left Sandown Park with Paul very, very happy. They were giving away the flowers, so I was leaving with a bunch of yellow and white narcissists! I already had some beautiful white lilies So I just had to laugh at the gift and the blessings and how perfectly it had unfolded. As we left Sandown park in our separate cars I thought I’d lost my way. I stopped and Paul rang me, I realised I was on the right track after all. We all went home together happy and spiritually revived.
Paul, Ammaprema and myself giggled about the event and the experience. As a spiritual person having a human experience it’s very obvious to me that I walk my talk in a spiritual way, but I’ve only really scratched the surface on my spiritual practice.
The Dream I had of Amma and I in the school hall playing with my friends with the golden bowl of abundance and opportunity had a profound effect on me. I realised that the sweetness of life is continuing with daily practice, turning the other cheek, treating myself with kindness and compassion. As King Arthur in the new film says “why have enemies when we can all be friends?”. As Amma says with her new White Flower Meditation… “Let the white flowers pour upon the world, bringing peace and love to all mankind and all creation. With these golden lights in the centre of your being, golden light round every cell, shining this light out to the pearl in the centre of your forehead”. It was such a beautiful experience and I’m sure it’s going to continue to unfold.
I just wanted to share my experiences of Amma on her 30th visit and my 18th attendance on the Magical day.