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“Let us pray that our lives become like incense sticks, spreading a beautiful fragrance to the lives of one and all.” - Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) Maha Lakshmi Puja November 13th, 2020 @ 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm PST Amma says that Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, is a reminder to us to light the lamp of goodness to remove the darkness of wickedness within - to invoke the divine within our hearts. MA Center will honor Diwali with a traditional vedic puja ceremony dedicated to Maha Lakshmi, the Goddess of Auspiciousness, performed by Pujarini Meera. The program will begin with a short meditation and Diwali message by Swami Dayamritnanda Puri. The puja will follow, with group chanting and devotional singing led by Swamiji. The live program will be broadcast on the MA Center San Ramon YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/c/macentersanramon For the direct link to the upcoming live streams page please click here >>
Click here for more information Please contact the MA Center Events Team if you have any questions: macsrevents@ammagroups.org Pranams to Amma's Children What is Amma's job? On a grand scale, none of us can fathom the depth of purpose that is the life of a Mahatma. On a daily scale, Swami Amritaswarupananda emphatically stated that what Amma does is to know the heart of each individual, 365 days a year, with no expectations at all. That, he said, is Amma's job. All of us are aware of her infinite love and personalized guidance, provided not only to those who seek it, but to those who have never heard of her: the poor and the needy around the world. Ever available to lend a helping hand, Amma's grace flows in all directions, regardless of circumstances. Amma thus leads the way in showing us how to live a principled and compassionate life. As a community united by her vision, we now have the opportunity to express our gratitude to Amma in supporting her mission of love and service during this global time of crisis. As Amma cannot travel to see us, we can touch her hand and leave our mark by donating generously to Embracing the World, her charitable network of outreach programs. Please take the time today to visit www.embracingtheworld.org and learn more about these initiatives. To donate, you can go directly to amma.org/donations. It would be wonderful if 100% of this community participated by the end of December. In order to track participation, please send the details of your donation and company match if applicable, to Visala (vhohlbein@msn.com) . We are not alone in our efforts. Europe has organized a fundraiser called "9000 KM of Love." You may view it here: https://youtu.be/zWF4zDqQGSU Together, we can join Amma to make this world more joyful, safe and kind. Thanks for your consideration. Through Action, Education and Awareness "First, the human mind should be harmonized, then harmony of Nature will spontaneously take place." — Amma (Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi)
Amma asks each of us to take more responsibility for serving nature. Within the parameters of Amma's green initiatives, https://amma.org/global-charities/green-initiatives, what are you doing to make positive changes in your own life? Plastic Challenge - Kothai Nandaswamy, Bellevue, WA Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - Aparna, Kavita, Prakash From the time the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle initiative was announced, we have been trying to increase our commitment towards this effort. We got rid of almost all our plastic containers and replaced it with equivalent glass containers as they are eco-friendly. Plastic straws gave way to steel straws that we can happily reuse. All grocery shopping is now done with our own bags and we have several of them in our trunk. We have reduced our use of ziploc bags (although this was a little hard). If we order to-go food, we avoid taking any utensils from the store. When we are shopping for goods (be it clothing, electronics, household items), we are subconsciously asking hard questions of ourselves on whether it is a need or a desire. We are still mere drops in the ocean and have a lot of room to improve, but this effort has helped raise our awareness and care for nature. Each day we are thinking about this more and often competing with each other to do better. Planting Trees - Ben & Rajani We have been very inspired by Amma's requests to plant more trees globally. We live on 6 acres, in a special place on Whidbey Island where we share wetlands with a wide variety of birds, frogs and pollinating insects. A few years ago, in honor of Amma's request, we planted 6 evergreen trees with Gunamayi. This spring we decided to plant a hedgerow of native plants, opting for a variety of flowering bushes and trees that will support year-round and migration birds and pollinators. Rajani and her friend Becky spent two rainy days in May planting 56 new starts. Each tree was blessed with mantras and a sincere desire to grow and thrive here in Maxwelton Valley. Thank you, Amma, for inspiring us to be better stewards of our shared wetlands.
Recent Saraswati Puja on final night of Navaratri Over the course of the Navaratri ('nine nights' in Sanskrit) festival, Swami Dayamritananda Puri led the daily virtual celebrations from MA Center San Ramon. During these nine nights, three each were devoted to honoring the divine qualities of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati.
The ninth and final night, Swamiji's chants and bhajans were accompanied with a beautiful Vedic Puja performed by Pujarini Meera, dedicated to Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge. Both these events were broadcast virtually together across the US, making it a very special occasion that allowed everyone to engage their senses in a prayerful and divine atmosphere. With gratitude to our beloved Amma, who is bestowing us with all these special gifts to enhance our spiritual quest.
Classic Amma Videos Join folks from the region to watch “classic” Amma videos! Feel free to join a hearty discussion after the video. Weekly Amma Videos, Tuesdays at 1 pm PST Schedule and link to register: This is a weekly offering hosted by Amma's Vancouver, BC Satsangs. IAM Courses - November 2020
3 hour Course - Don't miss this opportunity to experience a powerful meditation technique created by Amma. The IAM®-20 Meditation is a unique integration of gentle yogic stretches with an effective and easy to practice sitting meditation. It can be comfortably performed by anyone in just 20 minutes per day. To find an upcoming November course visit: Amma's Birthday Message 1. As much as possible, keep your body and mind under control. Karuna-virus can conquer the coronavirus - Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi "Together we are a power, an undefeatable power. When we work together, hand in hand, with love …we will see the birth of peace." - Amma
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